MESOP TODAY’S Iraq Situation Report:

November 18-19, 2014 – by: Sinan Adnan and Brian Fisher – ISW – Key Takeaway:   Iraqi Security Forces, Iraqi Shi’a militias, Kurdish forces, and Iraqi Sunni anti-ISIS tribes are applying pressure on ISIS across multiple fronts. Around Amiriyat al-Fallujah sub-district, southeast of Fallujah, the ISF and tribal fighters launched an operation to clear ISIS from the southern environs of the sub-district. Although it is hard to verify now the degree to which this operation has been successful, this operation nevertheless represents a shift from defensive to offensive posture by the security forces in Amiriyat al-Fallujah who have faced repeated ISIS incursions.

Another operation was launched in order to retake the sub-districts of Sadia and Jalula, both located east of the Hamrin Ridge and Hamrin Lake in northeastern Diyala province. Although the announced goal of the operation is to retake both sub-districts, the military effort as of right now is concentrated on clearing the road and villages that lead to Sadia sub-district. The Kurdish Peshmerga were expelled from Jalula and Sadia on August 11 and June 17 respectively. Both areas fall on the green line of the internal contested boundaries between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the central government. It is therefore important to watch for the degree of Peshmerga involvement in these operation as an indicator of Iraqi Kurdish desire to return to areas not populated by an Iraqi Kurdish majority. Further north, the attack in Arbil is an anomaly given the relative security in the province in comparison to other areas of Iraq.