BAGHDAD: Iraqi forces said they faced tough resistance on Monday from Daesh terrorists driven out of the city of Tal Afar to a small town where they had “nothing to lose” by fighting to the end.
An advance by the Iraqi army and Shiite paramilitary groups into Al-’Ayadiya was being slowed by snipers, booby-traps and roadside bombs, military officials said.
“The offensive started from two fronts in a bid to distract Daesh fighters,” army Lt. Col. Salah Kareem said.
“A total of four suicide bombers driving vehicles rigged with explosives attacked our troops under sniper cover. We had to slow down to avoid high casualty rates among our soldiers.”
Iraqi forces have in recent days recaptured almost all of the northwestern city of Tal Afar, long a stronghold of Islamic State. They have been waiting to take Al-’Ayadiya, 11 km northwest of the city, before declaring complete victory.
“Our intelligence shows that the most diehard Daesh fighters fled Tal Afar to Al-’Ayadiya,” Kareem said.
He said continuous air strikes and round-the-clock drone surveillance had prevented them fleeing to neighboring Syria.
“They have nothing to lose ... they will fight to the last breath,” Kareem said.
Daesh mortar rounds and sniper fire struck close to the advancing forces. The army hit back with tanks, heavy machine guns and mortars.
Up to 2,000 battle-hardened militants were believed to be defending Tal Afar against around 50,000 government troops last week. It was unclear how many were left in Al-’Ayadiya.
Many motorcycles carrying the Islamic State insignia had been abandoned at the side of the road outside Al-’Ayadiya.
Caliphate in ruins
If the fight for the town is proving surprisingly tough, the bigger battle for Tal Afar was easier than expected for Iraqi forces.
The city’s dramatic and rapid collapse after just eight days of fighting lent support to Iraqi military reports that the militants lack sturdy command and control structures west of Mosul.
Civilians who fled Tal Afar in recent weeks told Reuters of harrowing conditions in the city, where people had been surviving on bread and dirty water for months. Some militants had looked “exhausted” and “depleted,” residents said.
Tens of thousands of people are believed to have fled in the weeks before the battle started. A Reuters team saw no sign of civilians in the neighborhoods it toured on Saturday and Sunday.
Tal Afar became the next target of the US-backed war on the terrorist group following the recapture in July of Mosul, where it had declared its “caliphate” over parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014.
Mosul’s collapse effectively marked the end of the caliphate, but the group remains in control of territory on both sides of the Syrian-Iraqi border.
Iraqi forces face tough resistance in final Tal Afar battle
Iraqi forces face tough resistance in final Tal Afar battle
Saudi companies exhibiting at ArabPlast in Dubai to showcase petrochemical innovations
- ArabPlast will feature a diverse range of products, technologies and solutions that shape the future of plastics and petrochemicals in the region
LONDON: Saudi petrochemical firms will showcase their products and innovative solutions at the 17th ArabPlast, hosted by the Dubai World Trade Center, the Emirates News Agency — WAM —reported.
ArabPlast, an international trade show that takes place from Jan. 7-9, is an important event in the calendar of companies working in the plastics, recycling, petrochemicals, packaging and rubber industries.
In 2025, ArabPlast will host 12 national pavilions and 750 exhibitors from a total of 35 countries, including companies from Saudi Arabia, Austria, China, Egypt, Germany, Italy, India, Switzerland, Jordan, UAE and the rest of the GCC countries.
They will showcase “a diverse range of products, technologies and solutions that shape the future of plastics, petrochemicals and rubber sectors in the region,” WAM reported.
Nidal Mohammed Kadar, director of ArabPlast, said that the event would also feature the “latest developments in robotics and artificial intelligence technologies in the field of recycling,” which will contribute to sustainability.
Sadiq Al-Lawati, executive director of Polymers Marketing at OQ Oman, said that ArabPlast will focus on “sustainable, environmentally friendly solutions” as the global demand for plastic increases in industrial sectors, such as construction, food and beverage, aviation, automotive, health care and sports.
Alongside the exhibitions, hundreds of professionals and decision-makers will discuss the latest solutions and challenges that the plastic and petrochemical industries are facing in the Arab region.
Two Israeli strikes hit south Beirut: Lebanon state media
- “Israeli warplanes launched two violent strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs in the Kafaat area,” official National News Agency said
- The raids “caused massive destruction over a large geographical area” of the Kafaat district, NNA said
BEIRUT: Lebanese state media reported two Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday, about an hour after the Israeli military posted evacuation calls online for parts of the Hezbollah bastion.
“Israeli warplanes launched two violent strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs in the Kafaat area,” the official National News Agency said.
The southern Beirut area has been repeatedly struck since September 23 when Israel intensified its air campaign also targeting Hezbollah bastions in Lebanon’s east and south. It later sent in ground troops to southern Lebanon.
AFPTV footage showed grey smoke billowing over south Beirut.
The raids “caused massive destruction over a large geographical area” of the Kafaat district, NNA said.
Earlier Sunday, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee warned on social media platform X that the military would strike “Hezbollah facilities and interests” in the Hadath and Burj Al-Barajneh districts, also sharing maps of the areas to be evacuated.
Full-on war erupted following nearly a year of limited exchanges of fire initiated by Iran-backed Hezbollah in support of its ally Hamas, after the Palestinian group’s October 7, 2023 attack sparked the Gaza war.
Israel records 160 launches fom Lebanon as Hezbollah targets Tel Aviv, south
- Medical agencies reported that at least 11 people were wounded, including a man in a “moderate to serious” condition
JERUSALEM: Israel’s army said Hezbollah fired around 160 projectiles into its territory from Lebanon on Sunday, with the group saying its attacks had targeted the Tel Aviv area and Israel’s south.
The Iran-backed group said in a statement that it had “launched, for the first time, an aerial attack using a swarm of attack drones on the Ashdod naval base” in southern Israel.
Later, it said it fired “a barrage of advanced missiles and a swarm of attack drones” at a “military target” in Tel Aviv, and had also launched a volley of missiles at the Glilot army intelligence base in the city’s suburbs.
The Israeli military did not comment on the specific attack claims when contacted by AFP.
But it said earlier that air raid sirens had sounded in several locations in central and northern Israel, including in the greater Tel Aviv suburbs.
It later reported that “approximately 160 projectiles that were fired by the Hezbollah terrorist organization have crossed from Lebanon into Israel.”
Some of the projectiles were shot down.
Medical agencies reported that at least 11 people were wounded, including a man in a “moderate to serious” condition.
AFP images from Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv, showed several damaged and burned-out cars, and a house pockmarked by shrapnel.
The wave of projectiles follows at least four deadly Israeli strikes in central Beirut in the past week, including one that killed Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif.
In a speech on Wednesday, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem had said the response to the recent strikes on the capital “must be expected on central Tel Aviv.”
The Lebanese army, meanwhile, said that a soldier was killed on Sunday and 18 others injured, “including some with severe wounds, as a result of an Israeli attack targeting a Lebanese army center in Amriyeh.”
Though the Lebanese army is not a party to the war between Israel and Hezbollah, Israeli strikes have killed 19 Lebanese soldiers in the last two months, authorities have said.
Since September 23, Israel has intensified its Lebanon air campaign, later sending in ground troops after nearly a year of limited exchanges of fire initiated by Hezbollah in support of its ally Hamas after the Palestinian group’s October 7, 2023 attack, which sparked the Gaza war.
Lebanon’s health ministry says at least 3,670 people have been killed in the country since October 2023, most of them since September this year.
Mikati warns Israeli military action in Lebanon a rejection of political solution
- Borrell in Beirut: Pressure must be exerted on Israel, Hezbollah to accept US proposal
- Israel steps up bombardment of capital’s southern suburbs
BEIRUT: An Israeli strike on a Lebanese army center on Sunday killed a soldier and wounded 18 others, the Lebanese military said, with the caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, calling the attack “a direct bloody message rejecting all efforts to reach a ceasefire.”
The attack came as top EU diplomat Josep Borrell called for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war while on a visit to Lebanon.
According to the Lebanese Army Command, the first adjutant, Diab Mohammed Jaafar, was killed when Israel targeted Al-Amariyeh checkpoint on the road between Tyre and the town of Naqoura.
In a statement, Mikati said: “Israel’s messages rejecting a solution are ongoing, and just as it turned against the US-French call for a ceasefire in September, here it is once again responding with Lebanese blood, blatantly rejecting the solution that is being discussed.”
He called on “the countries of the world and the relevant international institutions to assume their responsibilities on the issue.”
Mikati’s condemnation came amid growing concerns that the Israeli military is trying to solidify its westward incursion in the coastal town of Al-Bayada, located between Tyre and Naqoura, while facing strong resistance from the eastern side of the border area in its positions in Khiyam.
Israeli forces are trying to encircle the South Litani area from both sides.
Hezbollah said it “targeted a gathering of the enemy army s forces east of the city of Khiyam with a salvo of rockets,” and “a gathering of Israeli forces at the Metula site (Israel’s outlet toward Khiyam) was targeted with a volley of rockets followed by an aerial attack with a squadron of assault drones … hitting its targets accurately.”
The Israeli military said Hezbollah launched 160 projectiles toward Israel on Sunday.
Sirens sounded across northern and central Israel, reaching Tel Aviv at successive intervals, forcing thousands of Israelis to head toward shelters.
Footage from central Israel showed extensive material damage and fires.
The Israeli military issued further warnings to residents of Beirut’s southern suburbs to evacuate, targeting Bourj Al-Barajneh and Hadath.
Former Israeli minister Benny Gantz claimed that the Lebanese government “is leaving Hezbollah unchecked,” adding: “It is time to act against its assets forcefully.”
These developments came during a round of discussions conducted by Borrell, high representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy, in Beirut with Mikati and Speaker Nabih Berry.
In a statement, Borrell stressed the need for exerting pressure on Israel and Hezbollah to accept the US proposal for a ceasefire.
Borrell emphasized that “the situation in the Middle East, particularly here in Beirut, presents a significant challenge to the international community. The international community cannot remain inactive in the face of these events. The absence of peace in the Middle East has reached an intolerable level, and people are dying under bombardment.”
He added that two months on from his last visit to Beirut, he now views Lebanon as on the verge of collapse due to the conflict, which has led to the devastation of numerous villages, as well as airstrikes aimed at Beirut and Baalbek. He also reiterated that “the human cost is exceedingly high.”
Borrell said Israeli airstrikes had claimed the lives of over 3,500 people in Lebanon, a figure three times greater than the casualties recorded in 2006.
The only viable path forward, Borrell said, is an immediate ceasefire and the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701.
Borrell praised the UNIFIL forces and confirmed the EU’s readiness to allocate €200 million ($208.3 million) to the Lebanese Armed Forces.
He emphasized the Lebanese need to “assume their political responsibilities by electing a president and putting an end to this prolonged power vacuum that has exceeded two years.”
Borrell said a ceasefire proposal for Gaza is pending Israeli government approval, and “we, as the international community, need to work to ensure the respect of international law, as we see famine being used as a weapon of war through international law violations, the complete siege imposed on Gaza and the number of people that are dying in Lebanon.”
He added that in his view the decisions of the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, for Israel’s activities in Gaza were not politically motivated and had been made under international law, which applied to everyone. “We strongly support the court,” he said.
Top EU diplomat urges ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Hezbollah-Israel war
- “We see only one possible way ahead: an immediate ceasefire and the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701,” Borrell said
BEIRUT: The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Israel-Hezbollah war while on a visit to the Lebanese capital for talks.
Since September 23, Israel has intensified its air campaign in Lebanon, later sending in ground troops following nearly a year of limited exchanges of fire initiated by Hezbollah in support of its ally Hamas after the Palestinian group’s October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the Gaza war.
“We see only one possible way ahead: an immediate ceasefire and the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701,” Borrell said after meeting Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who has led mediation efforts on behalf of Hezbollah.
Resolution 1701 ended the last Hezbollah-Israel war of 2006 and stated that Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only armed forces in the country’s south, where Hezbollah holds sway.
It also called for Israel to withdraw troops from Lebanon.
“Back in September I came and was still hoping we could prevent a full-fledged war of Israel attacking Lebanon,” Borrell said on Sunday.
“Two months later Lebanon is on the brink of collapse.”
He said the European Union was ready to provide 200 million euros for Lebanon’s army, whose deployment in larger numbers along the border forms a crucial point in truce talks.
France and Washington have been spearheading ceasefire efforts, with US envoy Amos Hochstein visiting Lebanon and Israel this week to discuss a truce plan based on implementing Resolution 1701.
“We must pressure the Israeli government and maintain the pressure on Hezbollah to accept the US proposal for a ceasefire,” Borrell said, calling for an “immediate” truce.
