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Insurgents Broaden Attacks in Advance on Baghdad Insurgents Broaden Attacks in Advance on Baghdad
(35 minutes later)
BAGHDAD — Sunni insurgents pressing toward Baghdad were reported on Friday to have fanned out to the east, taking two towns near Iraq’s border with Iran, further splintering the country into hostile fiefs and raising the stakes in a perilous regional crisis.BAGHDAD — Sunni insurgents pressing toward Baghdad were reported on Friday to have fanned out to the east, taking two towns near Iraq’s border with Iran, further splintering the country into hostile fiefs and raising the stakes in a perilous regional crisis.
The capture of the towns of Saadiyah and Jalawla came a day after Kurdish forces further north seized on the accelerating rout of government troops to take over the oil city of Kirkuk, long contested by Iraqi Kurds and the country’s Arab leaders in Baghdad.The capture of the towns of Saadiyah and Jalawla came a day after Kurdish forces further north seized on the accelerating rout of government troops to take over the oil city of Kirkuk, long contested by Iraqi Kurds and the country’s Arab leaders in Baghdad.
The Kurds control a semiautonomous region and have long eyed independence. The Kurdish moves on Thursday presented Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki with a twin challenge by Kurds and Sunni militants to restore Iraq’s cohesion and his government’s authority in face of the worst security crisis since the American withdrawal in 2011 and the apparent disintegration of the American-armed Iraqi Army.The Kurds control a semiautonomous region and have long eyed independence. The Kurdish moves on Thursday presented Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki with a twin challenge by Kurds and Sunni militants to restore Iraq’s cohesion and his government’s authority in face of the worst security crisis since the American withdrawal in 2011 and the apparent disintegration of the American-armed Iraqi Army.
Kurdish troops also moved into Jalawla to secure their political party offices before the Sunni militants aligned with the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and Syria took over the town, Reuters reported, but there were no reports of casualties. The town is in ethnically mixed Diyala Province — a tinderbox region bordering Iran that controls one approach to Baghdad through the town of Baquba, 20 miles north of the capital. Kurdish troops also moved into Jalawla to secure their political party offices before the Sunni militants aligned with the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and Syria took over the town, news reports said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties. The town is in ethnically mixed Diyala Province — a tinderbox region bordering Iran that controls one approach to Baghdad through the town of Baquba, 20 miles north of the capital.
There were reports that Iraqi government troops — who have abandoned several key locations including Mosul, Iraq’s second city, and Tikrit, the birthplace of Saddam Hussein — had lobbed artillery shells into the two captured towns from near Muqdadiya, around 50 miles from Baghdad, prompting an exodus of civilians. Other accounts said the militants, riding in pickups mounted with machine guns, had entered the two towns late on Thursday, encountering no resistance from government troops who abandoned their posts, as elsewhere during the insurgents’ lightning campaign, which began on Tuesday with the capture of Mosul.
On the main axis of combat along the highway running south from Mosul there were no indication early on Friday that the insurgents had been able to seize the frontline town of Samarra, 70 miles north of Baghdad, which is home to a Shiite shrine and is reportedly defended by militias from Iraq’s Shiite majority. Since then the militants seem to have been emboldened by the capture of American-supplied military equipment left behind by government forces as they withdrew.
There were reports that Iraqi government troops — who have abandoned several key locations in addition to Mosul, Iraq’s second city, and Tikrit, the birthplace of Saddam Hussein — had lobbed artillery shells into the two captured towns from near Muqdadiya, around 50 miles from Baghdad, prompting an exodus of civilians.
On the main axis of combat along the highway running south from Mosul there were no indication early on Friday that the insurgents had been able to seize the front-line town of Samarra, 70 miles north of Baghdad, which is home to a Shiite shrine and is reportedly defended by militias from Iraq’s Shiite majority.
Thousands of Shiite volunteers were reported to be mobilizing. “We hope that all the Shiite groups will come together and move as one man to protect Baghdad and the other Shiite areas,” said Abu Mujahid, one of the militia leaders.Thousands of Shiite volunteers were reported to be mobilizing. “We hope that all the Shiite groups will come together and move as one man to protect Baghdad and the other Shiite areas,” said Abu Mujahid, one of the militia leaders.
In the east, the reports of insurgent activity in Diyala Province followed unconfirmed reports that Iran, an ally of Mr. Maliki’s Shiite-led government, had sent Revolutionary Guards into Iraq. Iraqi Shiite militia leaders contacted in Baghdad said they knew of no such assistance from Iran and had not asked for any.In the east, the reports of insurgent activity in Diyala Province followed unconfirmed reports that Iran, an ally of Mr. Maliki’s Shiite-led government, had sent Revolutionary Guards into Iraq. Iraqi Shiite militia leaders contacted in Baghdad said they knew of no such assistance from Iran and had not asked for any.
Iran’s state-run news media reported this week that Tehran had strengthened its forces along the Iraq border and suspended all pilgrim visas into Iraq but had received no request from Iraq for military help.Iran’s state-run news media reported this week that Tehran had strengthened its forces along the Iraq border and suspended all pilgrim visas into Iraq but had received no request from Iraq for military help.
The insurgents have pledged to march on Baghdad, and even strike at Shiite holy cities further south. The sprawling Iraqi capital, with its large population of Shiites, is likely to prove a more daunting operation than the militants’ advance across a Sunni heartland with little sympathy for the Baghdad government.
For its part, Mr. Maliki’s administration seems bewildered by the insurgent advance, unable even to muster sufficient numbers in Parliament to vote on the prime minister’s call for a state of emergency to provide him with the authority to order curfews, restrict movements and censor news reporting.
On Friday, though, an Interior Ministry spokesman, Brig. Gen. Saad Maan, was quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying: “We put in place a new plan to protect Baghdad.”
“The plan consists of intensifying the deployment of forces, and increasing intelligence efforts and the use of technology such as observation balloons and cameras and other equipment,” General Maan said.