MESOPOTAMIA NEWS KURDISTAN REPORT : Die türkische Armee greift kurdische Gebiete im Nordirak an – Blutige Adlerklauen
Mitte Februar hat die türkische Armee zum zweiten Mal binnen Jahresfrist kurdische Gebiete im Nordirak angegriffen. –
Der türkische Menschenrechtsverein macht nun sowohl die PKK als auch die türkische Regierung für den Tod der Geiseln verantwortlich. »Die PKK ist nach humanitären Maßstäben für das Leben der Menschen verantwortlich, die sie entführt hat. Ihre Verantwortung für diesen Vorfall liegt auf der Hand«, heißt es in einer schriftlichen Stellungnahme am 15. Februar – Von Sabine Küper-Büsch – jungle world „25 Febr 2021
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS ANALYSIS – ATTRIBUTING THE ERBIL ATTACK: THE ROLE OF OPEN-SOURCE MONITORING
by Crispin Smith, Michael Knights, and Hamdi Malik – PolicyWatch 3439
February 24, 2021
Even Iran’s proxies now have proxies, but authorities can still untangle and attribute their illegal acts through expanded use of rich open-source evidence.
The February 15 rocket attack on Erbil International Airport was the second such strike on the city and the fourth major rocket attack on coalition facilities in Iraq since September 2020. Following these and other attacks, the propaganda arms of Iran-backed militias have sought to trumpet their successes against the coalition while obfuscating who carried them out. The United States and other coalition partners should therefore invest more effort in forensically linking the online “facade groups” that publicize attacks to major fasail (militias) such as Kataib Hezbollah (KH), Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), Hezbollah Harakat al-Nujaba, and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS). Even using non-classified means, it is possible to generate strong attribution evidence through careful online analysis of each group’s makeup, language, and interactions with one another.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : TROUBLE IN THE KURDISH FAMILY – If Turkey attacks Sinjar and fights PMF, Peshmerga will stay out of it: commander
NRT NEWS – SULAIMANI — Commander of the Peshmerga forces in Sinjar Qassim Shasho said on Tuesday (February 23) that the Kurdistan Region’s military will stay out of any potential conflict between Turkey and Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) militias if there is fighting in the district.
Shasho, who recently rejoined a Peshmerga unit affiliated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), told Voice of America that the Peshmerga would however defend itself if it comes under attack. “It is known that [the PMF] is an Iranian force. If Turkey attacks Sinjar, it will be an Iran-Turkey war and we will be victimized,” he told VOA. “We will not fight and will only defend ourselves. We will not fight Turkey or Iran.”
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : Turkey is Bombing Assyrian Villages in North Iraq
International Christian Concern – Posted 2021-02-22 22:26 GMT
Iraq condemned Turkey’s recent incursion into Iraqi territory in Nineveh Governorate. A member of parliament claimed that Turkey does not have the authority to deploy Turkish troops into Iraqi land. Turkey claimed they did so in order to neutralize 33 PKK fighters.
Turkey continues to pursue the PKK to “neutralize” their threat. Often this comes at the expense of bombings in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and within the Nineveh Governorate. Many Assyrian Christians called these areas home prior to the Iraqi war and ISIS. Turkey’s military excursions against the PKK in Iraq began increasing while the country was preoccupied with defeating ISIS, allowing them to establish several military bases within Iraq.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS Q & A : ROCKET ATTACKS ON ERBIL: PART 2
by David Pollock – Crisis Response Council – February 18, 2021
The U.S. response needs to get more specific, while the KRG and Baghdad need to patch up their urgent security differences and stop entangling them with broader territorial, constitutional, or budgetary issues.
Much discussion of the recent rocket attack on Erbil, which killed or injured half a dozen civilians at the airport and near the U.S. consulate there, abounds in misconceptions. First, such an assault was not “unprecedented”; a similar one, though on a smaller scale, occurred as recently as last September. So, if left unchallenged, these attacks will almost certainly recur before too long.
Second, the “mystery” of who did it is not really mysterious at all. Compelling circumstantial evidence points to the Asai’b Ahl Al-Haqq militia—through one of its many fictitious front groups who claimed responsibility, “Saraya Awliya Al-Dam.”
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS IRANIAN PROXIES ATTACKED US / BIDEN IN KURDISTAN – IRAQ
Rep. McCaul: Group that claimed it was behind Erbil rocket attack has ties to Iran-backed fighters
“The group that claimed responsibility for this heinous attack” on the Kurdistan Region’s capital “has a history of claiming assaults on coalition targets in Iraq,” McCaul stated
Laurie Mylroie – February 18 2021 14:06 – WASHINGTON DC, United States (Kurdistan 24) – The senior Republican on the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, issued a statement on Wednesday that differed significantly from those the Biden administration has made about Monday’s rocket attack on Erbil.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS ERDOGN’S NEUSTES SCHLACHTFELD – Türkei droht mit Militäroperationen im nordirakischen Jesiden-Gebiet / Islamisten kooperieren mit kurdischer PKK
Regionale Einheiten, die der PKK nahestehen, und Milizionäre der Volksmobilisierungskräfte erklären ihre Bereitschaft, die Jesiden-Region gegen türkische Angriffe zu verteidigen. – Tahsin Qasim, Rudaw – 18 Febr 2021
Drei Brigaden der irakischen Volksmobilisierungskräfte (PMF, Hashd al-Shaabi auf Arabisch) wurden in die Region Shingal verlegt, nachdem die Türkei mit einer Militäroperation gegen die Arbeiterpartei Kurdistans (PKK) in der Region gedroht hatte.
„Die PMF schlägt mit eiserner Hand zu. Deshalb kann weder die Türkei, noch die PKK noch irgendeine andere Person solch eine Drohung aussprechen. Es gibt keine Bedrohung, solange die PMF hier sind. Wir sind in das Gebiet gekommen. Wie kann die Türkei drohen, hierher zu kommen? Hat unser Land nicht seine Souveränität? Die PMF sind hier“, sagte Abbas Ali am Freitag gegenüber Tahsin Qasim von Rudaw.
Iran Is Using Violence to Put Pressure on Biden
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : POOR JOE ! WHAT WILL YOU DO ?
By Dr. Ardavan KhoshnoodFebruary 17, 2021 – ISRAEL – BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,934, February 17, 2021
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Multiple missiles were fired at Erbil on February 15, killing at least one civil contractor and injuring at least one American national. It is likely that the attack was conducted by an Iranian proxy in order to put pressure on President Biden to lift the sanctions against the country and return to the 2015 nuclear deal.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS Q & A : ROCKETS OVER ERBIL: HOW TO RESPOND TO AN IRAQI MILITIA OUTRAGE
by Michael Knights – PolicyWatch 3435 – February 16, 2021
Iran-backed militias took the unprecedented step of rocketing a major city and U.S. base in Iraqi Kurdistan, and the Biden administration must quickly find its own formula for restoring deterrence.
MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : Türkische Zustände in Irakisch-Kurdistan
Von Amed Sherwan jungle world 17 Febr 2021
Den ersten Mord an einem Journalisten habe ich mit 12 Jahren wahrgenommen, als Sardasht Osman entführt und tot aufgefunden wurde. Ich erinnere mich an mehrere Fälle, wo kritische Stimmen aus der Öffentlichkeit verschwunden sind, weil sie kaltgestellt oder anders zum Schweigen gebracht wurden. Die Regierung hat die Verantwortung dafür selbstverständlich immer bestritten in dem Versuch, das Image als freiheitlich-demokratische Region zu wahren.
Damit ist jetzt endgültig vorbei. Heute sind die unabhängigen Journalisten Sherwan Sherwani, Eyaz Karam und Guhdar Zebari sowie die Bürgerrechtsaktivisten Shvan Saeed und Hariwan Essa in Erbil wegen »Verstößen gegen die nationale Sicherheit« (§ 156, Abs. 21) zu jeweils 6 Jahren Haft verurteilt worden.
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