29 October 2014

ISIL has committed a massacre involving the execution of at least 50 tribesmen of the Bu-Nimr tribe that had been fighting for more than three weeks in the Zuwaya area to the west of Hit. The gunmen gathered 50 men of the police and Awakenings forces - who are reported to have announced their 'repentance' two days ago - at a roundabout in the Al-Bakr district in the western  sector of Hit township where everyone thought they would be released. But they were lined up and all 50 were summarily executed. The gunmen then evicted every family in the area where the victims had lived, and moved into the vacated houses. There was a mass migration today from Al-Bakr and Zuwaya with families making their way on foot towards Haditha township, more than 50-60 km away. The head of the Anbar Council, Sabah Karhout, has confirmed that 5 of the migrants died along the way, 4 children and an elderly woman. The local government and the Bu-Nimr tribe are expected to announce in the next two days a major operation to avenge the victims of today's mass execution.

In Fallujah, there are reports that at least 21 civilians have been killed or wounded as a result of fresh clashes and the renewed bombardment exchanges between the ISIL gunmen and the security forces.

In Garma, coalition warplanes have carried out airstrikes; an Anbar Operations source has reported that at least 14 gunmen have been killed and a number of their vehicles have been destroyed.

In Baghdadi, gunmen today launched an attack - the fifth in less than 10 days - aimed at seizing control of the town, but security forces at the Ayn Al-Asad military base provided support for the tribal fighters within the town in resisting the attack. Meanwhile, at least 70% - 80% of the town's residents have abandoned their homes, fleeing the exchanges of fire around them.

In Haditha today, there were some low-level military operations, with security forces setting up checkpoints around the town. Haditha is to be the training center for the 30,000 volunteers whose recruitment has been authorized by the Prime Minister.