Lima Charlie’s MENA Weekly Update – 13th June ‪‎

13th of June – ‪‎#MENA Weekly News Update from Lima Charlie News:

#OmarMateen, 29, the active shooter in the Orlando, Florida tragedy yesterday that resulted in 50 deaths and at least 53 wounded, according to the Orlando Police pledged #ISIS allegiance in a phone call to a 911 Emergency Dispatch operator. Mr. Mateen was shot and killed by the responding police units on the scene. In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, it appears that Amaq News, a Syrian news agency that holds close association to the Islamic State, claims the group is responsible for the attack. While it has not been confirmed that Mateen acted specifically on orders from #ISIS, based on statements by ‪the #‎FBI‬ it appears he had also sought acceptance from ‪#‎HAMAS‬, ‪#‎Hezbollah‬, ‪#‎alNusra‬ and ‪#‎alQaeda‬. Follow #LimaCharlie as this develops.

The counter-ISIS offensive in Iraq, Kurdistan, and #Syria, is reportedly going well. Many accounts have ISIS tethering on the fringes. Yesterday Iraq’s Minister of Defense, Mr. Khalid al Obeidi, stated that Iraqi troops are on the verge of taking #Fallujah back. Similar statements were made by Kurdish and Syrian forces from their respective frontline offensives.

The al Raqqa offensive by Syrian Armed Forces and Russian Special Forces are about to take the #Tabqa Air base and Dam according to sources. On Saturday till Sunday the units fought ISIS elements over the control of the Sfaiyah gas fields which is 20 km away from the Tabqa Air Base; the battle raged for 7 hours before the coalition forces were able to declare victory. Late Sunday reports indicated that victorious units from that battle had encircled the Tabqa Air Base and were preparing for an all out offensive in the week coming.

#Russian air assets in the area have been “pounding” the Tabqa Air Base compound for the past 3 days with air to surface missiles and rockets. On Friday the Syrian Air Force attacked and destroyed a “massive” ISIS convoy traveling towards the Air Base to resupply and strengthen the numbers there before the coalition ground forces onslaught. According to Syrian Government statements on the matter, the air to ground convoy attack netted “hundreds of” ISIS fighters’ demise. The coalition has dispatched units in preparation to taking the all important Tabqa Dam as soon as possible. As reported by Lima Charlie last week, ISIS sources have stated they rigged the dam to be destroyed in the eventuality of an attack. The dam is located some 8 km away from the Tabqa Air Base, and is one of the largest dams in Syria. The destruction of the #TabqaDam would result in the flooding of a large area and the death of hundreds of thousands if not millions of Syrian civilians. This would be in addition to the infrastructure and production industry damage, which would be immense.

A fire broke out on Tuesday evening at a mothballed natural gas production well close to the region controlled by ISIS militants in northern Iraq, an oil official said. The well belongs to the #Khabbaz oil field, 20 km (12 miles) southwest of #Kirkuk in a region under control of the Kurdish #peshmerga forces, said an official at the state-run North Oil Company that operates the reservoir. Firefighters were trying to put out the blaze while an investigation was under way to determine what caused the explosion, he said. The Khabbaz field sustained heavy damage last year after an attack by the ultra-hardline ISIS. It produces about 15,000 barrels per day under normal circumstances.

On the evening of 9th of June the first humanitarian aid shipment with food arrived to the rebel-held town of #Darayya, a suburb of Damascus. The town has been besieged by Syrian Government forces since 2012, with sparse supplies coming in to sustain some 8,000 civilians living there. The majority are reported to be women and children. On the 1st of June a humanitarian aid convoy carrying medicine, baby milk, and vaccines, entered the town after Russia had announced a 48-hour truce “in the interest of humanitarian efforts”. The convoys are being carried out by the International Committee of the #RedCross, the #UnitedNations, and the Syrian #ArabRedCrescent.

On the 8th of June reports began to surface that the ISIS leader Abu Bakr #alBaghdadi and the ISIS leadership had been injured, some reports state killed, in a coalition air force attack on a compound in the Nineveh area outside of #Mosul in #Iraq where a meeting was taking place. The reports remain unconfirmed. In February this year similar reports, not for the first time, surfaced that were proven incorrect some 2 weeks later. U.S.’s envoy to the anti-ISIS coalition, Brett McGurk, went on record stating that the U.S. does not believe that al Baghdadi is dead, but was quick to point out that the U.S. has not directly heard from al Baghdadi “since the end of last year” and encouraged al Baghdadi to make a Ramadan announcement if he is still alive.

The 2016 Global Peace Index was released last week. The report stated that the conflicts throughout the Middle East has caused the region to be the only area in the world that is seeing an increase in violence, and death, as compared to the rest of the world. “Quite often, in the mayhem which is happening in the Middle East currently, we lose sight of the other positive trends, “ Steve Killelea, member of the group that produces the index, stated in response.

An ongoing series of explosions has ripped through #Beirut, Lebanon, this week. Most have been located in the Christian neighborhoods of central Beirut. As of yet no organization has taken responsibility for the events.

At 1028AM local time a car bomb went off in #Istanbul, Turkey, killing 11 and wounding 36. Of the dead were 7 police officers, and 4 civilians. The attack was targeting a Turkish Police Bus, and happened two blocks away from the popular tourist destination of the Grand Bazaar. As of yet no group has claimed the attack, but the Turkish Security apparatus is pointing fingers at the Kurdish organization People’s Protection Units, or #YPG.

The United Nations announced a report on the 2nd of July that would include the addition of #SaudiArabia to the U.N.’s annual blacklist of states and armed groups that violate children’s rights during conflicts. The accusation was that as part of the Saudi’s military campaign in #Yemen to prevent #Iran-allied Houthi rebels and forces loyal to Yemen’s ex-President Ali Abdullah Saleh from taking control of the country, are responsible for 60 percent of child deaths and injuries in Yemen last year, killing 510 and wounding 667, and according to the report the Saudi led coalition was also directly responsible for having carried out half the attacks on schools and hospitals. While the leadership of the U.N., including its General-Secretary, stood behind the report it was deemed necessary a few days after the announcement to redact and review the report. After the review of the report, the inclusion of Saudi Arabia was dropped.

The Saudi-backed #Hadi government of Yemen has announced on Thursday that the head of the United Nations’ Human Rights Office, George Abu al Zulof, is “persona non grata” just days after investigators published further evidence of civilian deaths resulting from Saudi Arabia’s intervention in the country. Earlier that same day, the government-linked news agency Sabanew.net quoted an official as saying the representative had “lost professionalism and is persona non grata.”

#Afghanistan announced a ceasefire agreement with #Pakistan on the morning of Monday, in an attempt to further diplomatic addresses between the two countries.

#Somalia has come to an agreement with the #IMF to monitor its expenses and financial methods in an ongoing effort to normalize its financial relations with the rest of the world. The IMF Financial Monitoring Program will oversee bank reform in the country, which will enable Somalia’s financial institutions to lift some of the current stigma in dealing with foreign institutions.

#alShaabab executed 4 men on the 11th of June in the village of #Bulafulay accused of spying for Kenyan and American intelligence agencies. One victim was identified as Muhuddin Ahmad, 27, who was beheaded in public. The other 3 were individuals who worked with #Ahmad in an unnamed NGO organization. They were executed by firing squad.

al Shaabab reported earlier on the 9th of June that they had assaulted an ‪#AMISOM compound in the ‎Halgan village, using some 500 fighters. They also claimed to have killed over 60 AMISOM/UA soldiers. The numbers that the Somalian Security Minister announced is that 9 ‪‎Ethiopian AMISOM troops had been killed in the attack, and that the AMISOM forces had managed to kill some 240 al Shaabab fighters. The number was later downgraded by the Somalian Government to half that, 120. The Kenyan Military stated that 30 of their men had been killed in the attack. The village of Halgan is in the Halgan District in the central Hiran region of Somalia, and is located some 160 miles, or 250 kilometers, from #Mogadishu. al Shaabab is known for ‎hyperbole in their statements, and to retract their online statements randomly. And that is what happened this time. Their official channel has withdrawn the statement of the casualty numbers.

The attack was initiated by pushing a VBIED into the front gate of the camp, which exploded, and then sending a steady stream of al Shaabab fighters flooding through it. Previous attacks killed 54 Burundian soldiers in Leego town, 19 Ugandans in Janaale and more than 100 Kenyans in El-Adde. The AU force been stationed in Somalia since 2007 to fight al Shabab. The group, which has pledged allegiance to al-‪Qaeda, wants to overthrow the Somali government and turn Somalia into a strict Islamist state. ‪#Ethiopia is one of five countries contributing troops to the 22,000-strong mission and this is the first time an Ethiopian-run AMISOM base has been attacked. Residents in the area have confirmed that Ethiopian and government troops are in control of Halgan.

The #US acknowledged a drone strike that it carried out on the 31st of March this past week. The strike killed the senior leader of #alQaeda in Somalia, Hassan Ali #Dhoore.

#Turkey is seeking to normalize its diplomatic relationship with #Israel. Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Mr. Mevlut Chavusoglu, stated on the 7th of June that Turkey is a few meetings away from having normalized and full diplomatic relations. The two have been at odds since Israeli Commandos boarded a Turkish aid ship heading towards #Gaza in 2010 using military means. The boarding resulted in the death of 10 Turkish nationals.

On the 6th of June an individual carried out an attack on an Jordanian General Intelligence Directorate’s regional headquarters in the #Baqaa refugee camp. The attack netted the death of 5 GID operatives. The attacker was arrested a few hours later, and is claiming allegiance with ISIS. Jordan is part of the U.S.-led military campaign against ISIS.

#Jordan has submitted a letter of protest to the Israeli embassy in Amman condemning repeated raids into Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jordanian sources told Quds Press on Tuesday. Spokesman of the Jordanian Government Mohamed al-Momani said that the Jordanian foreign minister “has been following the violations of the holy sites closely”, noting that his country considers this a “red line”. #AlMomani said the letter showed that Amman denounces the raids into Al-Aqsa and the attempts to change the historical status of the holy site.

An attack in #TelAviv at the Sarona Market Wednesday night netted the death of 4 and 17 injured. The perpetrators of the attack were Khaled al Mahmara and Muhammad Ahmad Moussa Mahmara, both members of the al Mahmara tribe from Palestine. Khaled had previously studied at the Jordanian Military Academy of al Mutah University in al Karak, Jordan, and was a verified and registered member of the Hamas group.

The 9th till the 10th of June saw a peaceful demonstration organized by the Iraqi #Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr in central #Baghdad. The demonstration was against the systemic corruption in the government, wide reforms, and in favor of the Iraqi Security Forces. The number of people participating in the demonstration is said to be up-towards 3,000 people.

Afghani MP Sher Wali #Wardak died in a targeted bombing in the Afshar area of #Kabul on the 5th of June against his compound. One security officer in the MP’s security detail, and one secretary, died as well.

A day after ISIS in Sinai, #Egypt, announced a campaign against foreign troops stationed in the Peninsula, they detonated an buried IED on the road between Rafah and southern Sheikh Zuwayed which netted the death of 7, wounding 15, of Egyptian Soldiers. Assistant Security Director of North Sinai Yasser Hafez was injured in the leg as a result of the bombing. Egypt has been working to quell an Islamist insurgency that spiked after the 2013 ouster of Islamist president #MohamedMorsi and has killed hundreds of security forces. The army has said that hundreds of militants have been killed in counterterrorism campaigns in the governorate.

The #Dubai retail market hit $35 billion Dollars according to a report released on the 7th of June from the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The report is based on public sales figures, and the market development index.

Several members of the #Libyan Presidents Council Forces were killed and injured in a clash with ISIS affiliated operatives.

The #USStateDepartment designated the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade (#YMB) as a terrorist organization on the 9th of June. YMB originated in Syria during the summer of 2012, and has historically primarily targeted Western UN affiliated aid missions.

For up-to-date news from the Middle East, please join us on twitter at @LimaCharlieNews or @JohnSjoholmLC

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John Sjoholm, Lima Charlie News

John Sjoholm is Lima Charlie’s Middle East Bureau Chief, Managing Editor, and founder of the consulting firm Erudite Group. A seasoned expert on Middle East and North Africa matters, he has a background in security contracting and has served as a geopolitical advisor to regional leaders. He was educated in religion and languages in Sana’a, Yemen, and Cairo, Egypt, and has lived in the region since 2005, contributing to numerous Western-supported stabilisation projects. He currently resides in Jordan. Follow John on Twitter @JohnSjoholmLC

Lima Charlie World provides global news, featuring insight & analysis by military veterans, intelligence professionals and foreign policy experts Worldwide.

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