Siege of Amirli

Last updated
Siege of Amirli
Part of the War in Iraq, the Military intervention against ISIL,
and the Salahuddin campaign (2014–15)
Salah Al-Din map.svg
A map of Saladin Governorate, where Amirli is located
Date11 June 2014 –31 August 2014 (2 months, 2 weeks and 6 days)
Location
Amirli, Saladin Governorate, Iraq
Result Anti-ISIL allied victory
(Allies break the siege)
Territorial
changes		 ISIL is driven out of the eastern part of the Saladin Governorate
Belligerents

AQMI Flag asymmetric.svg Islamic State

Flag of Iraq.svg Iraq

Flag of Iran.svg  Iran [2] [3]

Shiism arabic blue.svg Special Groups [4]

Flag of Kurdistan.svg  Kurdistan Region

Air support:

Aid support: [7]

Commanders and leaders

AQMI Flag asymmetric.svg Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (Leader of ISIL)
AQMI Flag asymmetric.svg Abu Omar al-Shishani (Military Chief)

Contents

AQMI Flag asymmetric.svg Abu Muslim al-Turkmani (Deputy, Iraq)		 Flag of Iraq.svg Abdul Emir al-Zaidi
Flag of Iran.svg Qasem Soleimani [2] [9]
Flag of Kurdistan.svg Kareem Mullah Shakoor
Flag placeholder.svg Hadi Al-Amiri
Flag placeholder.svg Kareem al-Nouri
Flag of Promised Day Brigades.svg Muqtada al-Sadr
Strength
Unknown Badr Brigades: 4,000 [4]
Casualties and losses
147 killed [10]
15 captured [11] 		16 killed [12]
6 executed[ citation needed ]
39 wounded [10] [12]

The siege of Amirli was a siege of the predominantly Shi'ite Turkmen town of Amirli in Iraq by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during the War in Iraq. The town was besieged by ISIL forces from June 2014, lacking access to food, electricity, and water. Most of the residents are Shia Turkmen, who had organized local self-defense militias to fight against ISIL. [13] On August 31, the Iraqi military reportedly broke the siege and entered the town. [14] [15] It has been described as "Iraq's biggest victory against ISIS", as of September 2014. [9]

Iran had reportedly played a "military planning" role in breaking siege of Amirli. [2]

Events

Siege

The siege began in June, after Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIL) forces advanced on Iraqi positions in Northern Iraq. They attacked the town, but failed to capture it after townspeople armed with AK-47s put up resistance. However, ISIL had more powerful weapons compared to the local militia, prompting fears that they would try to storm the town. [16] ISIL forces continued to fire mortars and rockets into the town and launched raids against it. 20,000 citizens in Amirli were in danger from being killed by ISIL, dying from thirst or hunger.

The United Nations expressed concern over the situation in Amirli, and warned about the possibility of ISIL committing a massacre in the town. [13]

Military efforts

On 30 August, the Iraqi Army, Shi'ite militias and Peshmerga started a campaign to break the siege, after the speaker of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Abdul-Mahdi al-Karabalai, called to move and break the siege by ISIL on the town. [10] The forces attacked ISIL from three areas, the army attacked from the south of Amirli in Adhaim, the Peshmerga attacked from the north in Tuz Khurmatu, the militias attacked from the east in Kifri. [17]

Kataib Hezbollah helicoptered in 50 of its best fighters, according to Abu Abdullah, a local Kataib Hezbollah commander. The fighters set up an operations room to coordinate with the Iraqi army, the other militia groups, and advisers from the Quds Force, the branch of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that handles operations outside Iran and oversees Tehran's Iraqi militias. [18]

On 31 August, the United States, France, United Kingdom and Australia began humanitarian aid drops, like food, water and medical supplies, to help prevent a potential massacre against the Shi'a Turkmen minority in Amirli. [14] The US also carried out air strikes on ISIL positions around and near Amirli. Iraqi officials stated that they had reached Amirli and broken the siege and that the military was currently fighting to clear the areas around the town. [15]

On the same day, with the support of the US Air Force, the offensive troops succeeded in breaking the siege and freeing the villages around it, with the local citizens cheering and celebrating the end of the siege. [11] The speaker of the Iraqi Armed Forces, Qasim Atta, stated that the troops succeeded in breaking the siege by entering the Amirli from the south. [11] The offensive forces are proceeding in opening the Baghdad–Amirli road. [19]

Aftermath

After regaining control over Amirli, on 1 September, the Iraqi Army and its allies went on and retrieved the town of Suleiman Bek (90 km east of Tikrit) from ISIL. [20] [21] An Iraqi official stated that 23 Chechens from ISIL were killed, including 10 snipers. [22]

Following the operations to end the Amirli siege, pro-government militias and volunteer fighters as well as Iraqi security forces raided Sunni villages and neighborhoods around Amirli in Saladin and Kirkuk Governorates. Many were villages that ISIL had passed through and in some cases used as bases for their attack on Amirli. During the raids, militiamen, volunteer fighters and Iraqi security forces looted possessions of civilians who fled fighting during the onslaught on Amirli; burned homes and businesses of the villages' Sunni residents; and used explosives and heavy equipment to destroy individual buildings or entire villages. The Human Rights Watch documented the abduction of 11 men in the course of the government's operation, but local residents said many other men of fighting age had gone missing. [23]

See also

Related Research Articles

Amirli also spelt Amerli, is a predominantly Shia Turkmen town in Saladin Governorate, Iraq, approximately 100 km from the Iranian border. It is the centre of a farming region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kata'ib Hezbollah</span> Shia Islamist paramilitary group in Iraq

Kata'ib Hezbollah or the Hezbollah Brigades, is a radical Iraqi Shiite paramilitary group which is a part of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), staffing the 45th, 46th, and 47th Brigades. During the Iraq War (2003–11), the group fought against Coalition forces. It has been active in the War in Iraq (2013–2017) and the Syrian civil war (2011–present). The group was commanded by Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis until he was killed in a US drone attack in 2020. Thereafter, he was replaced by Abdul Aziz al-Muhammadawi, as the new leader of the PMF. KH seeks to establish an Iran-aligned government in Iraq, expel American forces from the country, and advance the regional and international interests of Iran in Iraq and the region. The group is responsible for killing hundreds of U.S. soldiers and takes a central part in carrying out attacks against U.S. targets in Iraq and acts as part of the Axis of Resistance. Kata'ib Hezbollah has received extensive training, funding, logistic support, weapons, and intelligence from the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014)</span> ISIL military offensive in northern Iraq against Iraqi government (2014)

The Northern Iraq offensive began on 4 June 2014, when the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, assisted by various insurgent groups in the region, began a major offensive from its territory in Syria into Iraq against Iraqi and Kurdish forces, following earlier clashes that had begun in December 2013 involving guerillas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sinjar massacre</span> Mass genocide and kidnapping carried out by ISIS

The Sinjar massacre marked the beginning of the genocide of Yazidis by ISIL, the killing and abduction of thousands of Yazidi men, women and children. It took place in August 2014 in Sinjar city and Sinjar District in Iraq's Nineveh Governorate and was perpetrated by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The massacre began with ISIL attacking and capturing Sinjar and neighboring towns on 3 August, during its Northern Iraq offensive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War in Iraq (2013–2017)</span> War between Iraq and its allies and the Islamic State

The War in Iraq (2013–2017) was an armed conflict between Iraq and its allies and the Islamic State. Following December 2013, the insurgency escalated into full-scale guerrilla warfare following clashes in the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah in parts of western Iraq, and culminated in the Islamic State offensive into Iraq in June 2014, which lead to the capture of the cities of Mosul, Tikrit and other cities in western and northern Iraq by the Islamic State. Between 4–9 June 2014, the city of Mosul was attacked and later fell; following this, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called for a national state of emergency on 10 June. However, despite the security crisis, Iraq's parliament did not allow Maliki to declare a state of emergency; many legislators boycotted the session because they opposed expanding the prime minister's powers. Ali Ghaidan, a former military commander in Mosul, accused al-Maliki of being the one who issued the order to withdraw from the city of Mosul. At its height, ISIL held 56,000 square kilometers of Iraqi territory, containing 4.5 million citizens.

Between 1 and 15 August 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) expanded territory in northern Iraq under their control. In the region north and west from Mosul, the Islamic State conquered Zumar, Sinjar, Wana, Mosul Dam, Qaraqosh, Tel Keppe, Batnaya and Kocho, and in the region south and east of Mosul the towns Bakhdida, Karamlish, Bartella and Makhmour

The following lists events that happened during 2014 in Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iranian intervention in Iraq (2014–present)</span> Intervention against ISIS by Iran

The Iranian intervention in Iraq has its roots in the post-2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States and allies when the infrastructure of the Iraqi armed forces, as well as intelligence, were disbanded in a process called "de-Ba'athification" which allowed militias with close ties to Tehran to join the newly reconstituted army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Baiji (2014–2015)</span> 2014–2015 battle

The Battle of Baiji took place in Baiji, Iraq, lasting from late October 2014 to late October 2015. In mid-November 2014, Iraqi forces retook the city of Baiji, and re-entered the Baiji Oil Refinery. However, fighting continued in the region, and on 21 December 2014, ISIL forces took Baiji and put the Baiji oil refinery under siege once again, before Iraqi forces recaptured the city on 22 October. It gave Iraqi forces complete control of the highway stretching from Baghdad to Baiji, and allowed Iraqi forces to use Baiji as a base for launching a future assault on Mosul.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">December 2014 Sinjar offensive</span>

The Sinjar offensive was a combination of operations of Kurdish Peshmerga, PKK and People's Protection Units forces in December 2014, to recapture regions formerly lost to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in their August offensive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Battle of Tikrit</span> 2015 battle of the War in Iraq

The Second Battle of Tikrit was a battle in which Iraqi Security Forces recaptured the city of Tikrit from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Iraqi forces consisted of the Iraqi Army and the Popular Mobilization Forces, receiving assistance from Iran's Quds Force officers on the ground, and air support from the American, British, and French air forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salahuddin campaign</span> Military campaign against the Islamic State

The Salahuddin Campaign was a military conflict in the Saladin Governorate, located in north-central Iraq, involving various factions fighting against a single common enemy, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The province exited Iraqi government control during ISIL's Northern Iraq offensive when large swathes of the north of the country were captured by the militant group with the Iraqi national army quickly disintegrating in the path of its advance. In light of the sweeping gains of the militants, Nouri Al-Maliki, the Prime Minister of Iraq at that time, attempted to declare a state of emergency though the Iraqi Parliament blocked his efforts to do so.

Kataib Rouh Allah Issa Ibn Miriam is a militia composed of Christian Assyrians, trained and supplied by an Iraqi Shi'ite militia as a subgroup in the fight against ISIL.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Sarrin (March–April 2015)</span> Military operation

The Battle of Sarrin refers to a military operation during 2015 in the northeastern Aleppo Governorate, during the Syrian Civil War, conducted by Kurdish YPG and allied forces against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the town of Sarrin, in an effort to capture the town and the surrounding region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the War in Iraq (2014)</span>

The Timeline of the War in Iraq covers the War in Iraq, a war which erupted that lasted in Iraq from 2013 to 2017, during the first year of armed conflict.

In early 2014, the jihadist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant captured extensive territory in Western Iraq in the Anbar campaign, while counter-offensives against it were mounted in Syria. Raqqa in Syria became its headquarters. The Wall Street Journal estimated that eight million people lived under its control in the two countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirqat offensive (2016)</span> 2016 offensive against ISILs positions in Mosul and the surrounding region

The Shirqat offensive, codenamed Operation Conquest or Operation Fatah, was an offensive against the positions of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in and around the district of Al-Shirqat District to reach the city of Mosul.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Fallujah (2016)</span> Offensive that the Iraqi government launched against ISIL

The siege of Fallujah was an offensive launched in February 2016 by the Iraqi government against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in al-Karmah and in the city of Fallujah, with the aim of enforcing a siege of the latter. During the early stages of the operation, local Sunni residents revolted against ISIL for a period of three days. On 22 May, after completing preparations around the city, the Iraqi Army and supporting Shi'ite militias launched the third Battle of Fallujah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)</span> Large-scale military campaign to recapture Mosul from ISIL

The Battle of Mosul was a major battle initiated by the Iraqi Government forces with allied militias, the Kurdistan Regional Government, and international forces to retake the city of Mosul from the Islamic State (ISIL), which had seized the city years prior in June of 2014. It was the largest conventional land battle since the capture of Baghdad in 2003, it was also the world's single largest military operation overall since the 2003 invasion of Iraq and was considered the toughest urban battle since World War II. The operation, which was called Operation "We Are Coming, Nineveh", began on 16 October 2016, with forces besieging ISIL-controlled areas in the Nineveh Governorate surrounding Mosul, and continued with Iraqi troops and Peshmerga fighters engaging ISIL on three fronts outside Mosul, going from village to village in the surrounding area in the largest deployment of Iraqi troops since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saraya al-Salam</span>

Saraya al-Salam is an Iraqi Shia militia formed in 2014. They are a part of the Popular Mobilization Forces and are a partial revival of the Mahdi Army. The name Saraya al-Salam means "Peace Brigades" to signify this the militia also uses a pigeon as a heraldic symbol. The group's name, together with its logo – which features a dove flying in front of an Iraqi flag – reflects Sadr's effort to maintain a peace with both Sunnis and the Iraqi central government. As of 2022, the group's operations are frozen, although it is still active but in smaller scale.

References

  1. ↑ "ISIS Lays Siege to Iraqi Turkmen Village". Time. 24 August 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 Coles, Isabel (September 1, 2014). "Iranians play role in breaking IS siege of Iraqi town". Reuters . Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  3. ↑ Ahmed, Azam (September 2, 2014). "Waging Desperate Campaign, Iraqi Town Held Off Militants". The New York Times . Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  4. 1 2 "The Iraqi troops launches a huge operation to break the siege of Amirli". Rai Alyoum. 30 August 2014. Archived from the original on 17 July 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  5. ↑ "التركمان يشاركون في معركة تحرير تكريت بلواء من 4 آلاف مقاتل". Almada. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  6. ↑ "Iraqi Town Besieged by Islamic State Pleads for U.S. Help". Wall Street Journal. August 21, 2014. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  7. 1 2 "US planes drop aid and strike IS positions near Iraq's Amerli". BBC News. 31 August 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  8. ↑ "نقش ایران در پیروزی پیشمرگه‌ها بر دولت اسلامی". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  9. 1 2 Rosen, Armin (September 3, 2014). "Iran's Military Mastermind Was Reportedly Present During Iraq's Biggest Victory So Far Against ISIS". Business Insider . Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  10. 1 2 3 "A brutal battle with ISIS to break the siege of Amirli". Al Ghad. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  11. 1 2 3 "Iraqi and Kurdish troops enter the sieged Amirli". BBC News. 31 August 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  12. 1 2 "Peshmerga and Iraqi forces enter Suleiman Bek town". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  13. 1 2 "Iraq conflict: UN warns of possible Amerli 'massacre'". BBC News. 23 August 2014. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
  14. 1 2 "Iraqi forces 'reach besieged Amerli'". BBC News. 31 August 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  15. 1 2 "Iraqi army breaks ISIS siege of Shi'ite Turkmen town of Amirli". CBS News. 31 August 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  16. ↑ "ISIS Lays Siege to Iraqi Turkmen Village". Time. August 24, 2014.
  17. ↑ "The Iraqi army launches a military operation to break the siege of the Turkmen Shi'ite town of Amirli". France 24. 30 August 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  18. ↑ "Special Report: The fighters of Iraq who answer to Iran". Reuters. 12 November 2014.
  19. ↑ "Freeing Amirli from ISIS and military deaths in Ramadi". Al Arabiya. 30 August 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  20. ↑ "Iraq regain control over Amirli and Suleiman Bek". Al-Akhbar. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  21. ↑ "Suleiman Bek is completely liberated, and 23 Chechens from ISIS were killed". Al Alam. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  22. ↑ "23 Chechens died in Suleiman Bek, east of Tikrit". Al Sumaria. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  23. ↑ "After Liberation Came Destruction". Human Rights Watch Publications. Retrieved 2 April 2015.

34°43′30″N44°35′15″E / 34.7250°N 44.5875°E / 34.7250; 44.5875

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.