IRAQ: Defence ministry releases aerial footage of its jets carrying out air strikes against gunmen suspected of being members of a Sunni militant group which operates in Iraq and neighbouring Syria

Record ID: 341238

  • Title: IRAQ: Defence ministry releases aerial footage of its jets carrying out air strikes against gunmen suspected of being members of a Sunni militant group which operates in Iraq and neighbouring Syria
  • Date: 2nd January 2014
  • Summary: BAGHDAD, IRAQ (JANUARY 2, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF POLITICAL COMMENTATOR ALI AL-SARAI BEHIND COMPUTER AT HIS DESK CLOSE OF COMPUTER SCREEN (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ALI AL-SARAI, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, SAYING: "al-Maliki wants to achieve security and political gains in the province, but at the same time he does not want to present gifts to the Sunni politicians that he alw
  • Embargoed: 17th January 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA2GV1HS2VYQPUMC93JV5OC6MYX
  • Story Text: Iraqi government jets carried out air strikes targeting Islamist militants in Anbar on Thursday (January 2) a day after gunmen stormed police stations in several cities in Iraq's western province, seizing weapon caches and freeing prisoners.
    Iraq's defence ministry handed out aircraft video which it said showed gunmen, suspected of belonged to the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), in the Anbar cities of Ramadi and Falluja, being targeted by air strikes.
    ISIL is one of the major Islamist groups engaged in fighting in the conflict in neighbouring Syria.
    The al Qaeda-linked group operates amidst the Sunni Muslim majority population in Syria and in Sunni areas in Iraq, where Shi'ite Muslims are in the majority.
    The latest flare-up in violence came after Iraq security forces dismantled a Sunni protest camp in Anbar on Monday (December 30), inflaming Sunni anger at the Shi'ite-led government amid the country's already deeply rooted sectarian tensions.
    The volatile situation in Anbar feeds into political manoeuvring ahead of upcoming 2014 parliamentary elections where Shi'ite Muslim Prime Minister Nuri al-Malaki will hope to consolidate his position.

    "al-Maliki wants to achieve security and political gains in the province, but at the same time he does not want to present gifts to the Sunni politicians that he always accused of being involved in violence, such as Raffi al-Essawi and Ahmed Abu Risha. On other hand, those politicians are looking for a triumph at the expense (of ISIL) in order to impose control ( over the province) and get political influence before parliamentary election on April 2014, so they want to expel (ISIL) and enforce stability and security, but by the hands of people of the city not by Maliki's forces. Therefore the military operations in Anbar have political goals to achieve the political gains," political commentator Ali al-Sarai told Reuters.
    Asked if Iraq's military operations in the country's west were linked to Syria's civil war, Sarai said: "Those who know the geographical nature of the province will realise that the bigger part of is in reality a crossing point for armed groups from Iraqi to Syria, and from Syria to Iraq. In view of that fact, there is a joint co-ordination between Iraq, Jordan and the U.S., and that's why these military operations and air strikes were launched in the desert."
    Violence in Iraq has hit its highest levels since the sectarian fighting of 2006-7, which killed tens of thousands of people.
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