Four western Iraqi towns fall to advancing ISIS militants

[$teve]

Four western Iraqi towns fall to advancing ISIS militants
By Michael Martinez, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Chelsea J. Carter, CNN | June 22, 2014

A strategic border crossing and three other towns in western Iraq fell Saturday to the control of ISIS militants, a senior Iraqi security official said.

In addition to their offensives in northern Iraq, the militants have strengthened their hand in the western province of Anbar, the country's largest geographically, and were controlling Al-Qaim, Rawa, Ana and Husaybah, said the senior official, who's based in Anbar.

Most importantly, the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, or ISIS, controlled the strategic town of Al-Qaim on the border with Syria, where the enemy fighters enjoy a stronghold, Iraqi security officials said Saturday.

Together, the four towns are situated along a highway from Syria to Baghdad, heightening possibilities that the militants could now march from the west to lay siege to the Iraqi capital. One of the four towns, Husaybah, is just 100 kilometers, or 62 miles, outside Baghdad.

CNN's Nic Robertson says fighters from Syria are capable of reaching the outskirts of Baghdad in less than four hours.

Iraqi government officials didn't have an immediate comment, other than security officials saying they were expecting troop reinforcements in Anbar.

Several Sunni tribes are aiding and supporting ISIS in Anbar, the senior official said.

Also, the first retinue of U.S. military advisers was expected to arrive soon in Iraq.

Since clashes erupted Friday in Al-Qaim, at least 11 Iraqi soldiers have been killed and 21 more have been wounded. Also, at least 20 militants were killed after Iraqi forces shelled areas from where the extremists launched attacks, two security officials in Ramadi, Iraq, told CNN.

Al-Qaim sits across from Syria's Deir Ezzor province, where ISIS controls at least three towns, including areas near the military airport of Deir Ezzor, which was the headquarters of the military council for rebel battalions, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group in London that monitors the Syrian conflict.

Four western Iraqi towns fall to ISIS militants - CNN.com

 

[Lujack Skylark]

As western Iraqi towns fall to ISIS militants it won't be too long before ISIS is on the Jordanian border. Then ISIS will become a problem for Israel as ISIS has said Jordan and Israel are next. The prophetic wars appear to be on the horizon as Bible prophecy is on fast forward in all areas.

Hamas and ISIS |

Could Iran's recent warning on Fox news for the United States to stay out of the Iraqi conflict open the door for the 5,000 American embassy personel to finally leave Baghdad since we have no friends there?

Will major earthquakes or the Israeli airforce soon be knocking out the Iranian nuclear power plants after all United States citizens leave Baghdad? Both the Sunnis and Shites don't want us in Iraq. Iran will merely keep moving forward on its weapons of mass destruction as this war heats up. Iranians are already calling the war a Zionist plot to get Muslims to kill each other. Muslims never blame their own religion for causing bloody wars.

 

[daygo]

Time will tell Lujack, time will tell. (