’ISIL’ Plan to Move Toward Iraq’s Capital City and Karbala, Forces Repel Assault on Samarra

A spokesman for the so-called “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” [ISIL], Abu Mohammed al Adnani, has reportedly warned on Wednesday that the militant group now plans to launch a wave of attacks on Iraq’s capital city of Baghdad and Karbala.

Al-Adnani said the militants will take their terrorist activities to the capital and also to the southern city of Karbala, as the militant group recently stormed cities in northern and central Iraq, including the country’s second largest city, Mosul.

In a statement translated by intelligence officials on Wednesday, al-Adnani promised battle would “rage” in the city and Karbala further south.

“The battle is not yet raging but it will,” al-Adnani said, according to the US-based monitoring group SITE.
“Do not relent against your enemy,” he added.

Moreover, Iraqi security forces repelled an assault by militants on the city of Samarra on Wednesday, and they have fully cleansed the town of Baiji from “ISIL” militants, after they had recently advanced into the town.
On Wednesday, Iraqi forces managed to recapture the city of Tikrit, located roughly half way between Baghdad and Mosul after “ISIL” militants had freed hundreds of prisoners, police said.

The Iraqi defense ministry issued a statement in which it asserted that the army regained control over the city of Tikrit and vowed to strike “ISIL” terrorists in the city of Mosul in order to impose the governmental authority in the city.

Iraqi troops are still chasing “ISIL” terrorists in the province, according to media reports.

On Tuesday, the militants took control of Nineveh Province, of which Mosil is the capital, forcing “over 500,000 people in and around” Mosul to flee the area.

The militant group stormed government buildings, TV stations, banks and freed an estimated 2,400 prisoners from jails in the northern Nineveh province.

“ISIL” also seized several areas in the provinces of Kirkuk and Salaheddin on Tuesday, after the militants took control of a whole province to its west, a police officer said.

On Tuesday, Iraqi prime minister Nouri Maliki has asked parliament to declare a state of emergency.

“We will not allow Mosul to be under the banner of terrorism…The entire world will suffer if terrorism spreads,” Maliki said.

Moreover, Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani also voiced his support for the Iraqi army engaged in fighting against “ISIL” on Tuesday.

Ayatollah Al-Sistani released a statement, condemning the capture of the Nineveh province by the Takfiri militants. Ayatollah al-Sistani called for unity among all of the country’s political factions against the militants.

The head of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council [SIIC], Ammar al-Hakim, also phoned several Iraqi political leaders over the security situation in Nineveh province.

A statement by the SIIC said that Hakim phoned top Iraqi and Kurdish leaders, calling all sides to cooperate to relieve Iraq from the current crisis and to hold their responsibilities in saving Iraq and Iraqis.

Furthermore, the US, which invaded Iraq in 2003, condemned the seizure of the city and described the situation as “extremely serious.”

Meanwhile, the White House signaled that it was looking to “strengthen Iraqi forces to help them deal with an insurgency.”
US State Department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, also said previously that, “”ISIL” is not only a threat to the stability of Iraq, but a threat to the entire region,” adding that the US backed “a strong coordinated response.”