15.11.2014, 10:37
Zitat:Iraqis prove that ISIS is a paper tiger<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/iraqis-prove-isis-paper-tiger">http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/ir ... aper-tiger</a><!-- m -->
Published Friday, November 14, 2014
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ISIS is not a supernatural entity. It is an organization with formidable combat capabilities, yes, and it has thousands of fighters willing to die. But it is not invincible.
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What happened in Jaref al-Sakher was a historical achievement for the men of the Popular Mobilization group that consists of multiple military factions, which had previously fought the US occupation. They include: Hezbollah Brigades, League of the Righteous, the Badr Organization, and Saraya al-Salam (of the Sadrist movement), in addition to other factions. General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Qods Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, was the undisputed “hero” of the battle.
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For the Americans, “the Jaref al-Sakher problem was difficult to resolve militarily, given its terrain covered by old palm trees, and the presence of a large ISIS force there.”
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Jaref al-Sakher has an area of approx. 25 km by 4 km. The assault began from three axes, with the area being showered by gunfire to soften the targets for nearly half an hour. The attacking force then advanced from three directions: from the village of Fadiliyah, to isolate the region from Amiriyat al-Fallujah in the north, with the advance from this axis being led by the League of the Righteous. From the south, the Hezbollah Brigades advanced directly from the village of al-Bahbahan. From the center, the remainder of the force advanced to take a number of villages controlled by ISIS including Abed Ways and al-Farisiyah.
The battle began. Close range and even face-to-face combat ensued with ISIS. The fighters of the Popular Mobilization saw firsthand how ISIS fighters could be killed, and how those who survived struggled to flee the area. In the beginning, ISIS terrorists defended their lines using snipers and explosive devices they had planted in large quantities between the palm trees. The line collapsed however, after the concentrated attack by the fighters of the Iraqi factions (who incidentally are not very well trained, but are indeed well organized and followed a tight plan).
Within hours, the attacking force entered the last areas controlled by ISIS, whose fighters were surprised to see they were surrounded and their supply lines cut off. All ISIS’s attempts to hold its ground were futile. In less than 48 hours, the area, which the US and Iraqi armies could not retake throughout the better part of a decade, was liberated.
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