U.S. RELOCATES IRAQI EMBASSY OFFICIALS
Due to the spreading violence in Iraq, the United States has ordered the relocation of a substantial number of embassy employees. They are reportedly being relocated to Jordan while security forces are added to protect the remaining staff in Baghdad. The Islamist Sunni militant group ISIS, or the Islamic State for Iraq and Syria, captured the major northern city of Mosul earlier this month and has seized control of several villages on a march toward Baghdad. The group recently released a video of the massacre of hundreds of captured Iraqi soldiers. As Washington weighs its response, a U.S. aircraft carrier has sailed into the Gulf along with a warship carrying 550 marines.(New York Times ,June 15, 2014)
KURDS SEIZE OIL-RICH KIRKUK
A decades-long dispute between the Kurds and Iraqi Arabs was settled in less than an hour when the Kurds occupied the oil-rich city of Kirkuk which straddles the Kurdish and Arab parts of Iraq in the country’s north. The Kurdish militia, the peshmerga, took control of the city to prevent it from being seized by the rampaging Sunni militant group ISIS. Though the official statement from the Kurdish government claims they only moved in after the Iraqi soldiers abandoned their posts, eyewitness reports have emerged claiming that the Kurdish forces threatened Iraqi troops and demanded they not only abandon their posts, but leave their weapons behind as well. Even with this further advance toward autonomy, few experts believe that the Kurds will make a serious play for independence in the near term due to the expected backlash from Iran, Turkey, and the United States. (Arab News, June 14, 2014)
ISRAELI TEENS KIDNAPPED; HAMAS OFFICIALS ARRESTED
Three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped in the West Bank on June 12 and Israel claims members of Hamas are behind the kidnapping. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has prepared Israel for a long search for the missing teens and has stated that more than 100 Hamas members have been arrested in the West Bank since the abduction, including some high-level officials such as Aziz Dweik, a parliamentarian. Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has condemned the kidnappings and has pledged cooperation with the Israeli military in their search.(Reuters, June 16, 2014)
ASSAD REGAINS CONTROL OF KEY COASTAL CITY
A Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces recently regained control of Kasab, a key Syrian city on the Turkish border, serving another symbolic blow to the opposition as the rebels withdraw from key towns and cities. According to the British-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, many of the opposition forces began pulling out of the area on June 14 and government forces started moving in the following day. The rebel fighters included groups such as al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda affiliate, and the Syrian army was reportedly aided by the Lebanese Shi’ite militia Hezbollah. There were some clashes between the government forces and remaining rebels but no casualty figures were immediately available. (Reuters, June 15, 2014)
HAFTAR’S LATEST OFFENSIVE AGAINST ISLAMISTS IN LIBYA
Libya is again awash in violence as 12 people were recently killed in Benghazi after renegade General Haftar’s latest offensive against Islamist militants. Gen. Haftar has been waging a war against militants in Benghazi for weeks and several army units have joined him. On June 15 his forces raided several suspected militant camps and reportedly captured five leaders as a result of the raids. There has also been recent speculation that Haftar has been receiving funding from Egypt and the UAE, both of which are concerned by the prospect an Islamist takeover in Libya. Haftar has made a point to publicly praise Egyptian President Sisi for his crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood while criticizing Qatar, where the Brotherhood has traditionally found some refuge. Haftar has gone as far to claim that Qatar is funding the militias in Libya, an accusation which the Qatari government adamantly denies. (Reuters, June 15, 2014)