<p>External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said in Parliament on Wednesday that there was no proof the 39 Indians missing in Iraq were dead.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;It&#39;s very easy for me to say that the 39 Indians are dead. No one including their families will ask me anything after that,&quot; ANI reported her as saying.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;Iraq has never said that the 39 Indians missing are dead,&quot; Swaraj added.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;Gumrah karne se mujhe ya sarkar ko kya milega?&quot;&nbsp;she said.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The 39 Indians went missing from Mosul, which was recently liberated from Islamic State.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Swaraj had met relatives of the missing Indians last week and told them the 39 Indians might be imprisoned in the Badush region of northwest Mosul.&nbsp;</p>

<p>But WION correspondent Daniele Pagani reported from Mosul (below) that the Badush prison had been reduced to rubble in the fighting between Iraqi forces and Islamic State.&nbsp;</p>

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<p>Where are the missing 39 Indians? (WION)</p>
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Swaraj had met relatives of the missing Indians last week and told them the 39 Indians might be imprisoned in the Badush region of northwest Mosul

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said in Parliament on Wednesday that there was no proof the 39 Indians missing in Iraq were dead. "It's very easy for me to say that the 39 Indians are dead. No one including their families will ask me anything after that," ANI reported her as saying. "Iraq has never said that the 39 Indians missing are dead," Swaraj added. "Gumrah karne se mujhe ya sarkar ko kya milega?" she said. The 39 Indians went missing from Mosul, which was recently liberated from Islamic State. Swaraj had met relatives of the missing Indians last week and told them the 39 Indians might be imprisoned in the Badush region of northwest Mosul. But WION correspondent Daniele Pagani reported from Mosul (below) that the Badush prison had been reduced to rubble in the fighting between Iraqi forces and Islamic State. Where are the missing 39 Indians? (WION) ×

Sushma Swaraj: No proof 39 Indians missing in Iraq are dead

<p>A group of men sit&nbsp;in a small hut made of clay and mud in one of the city&#39;s many informal refugee camps. The hut is pretty crowded, someone stares curiously at what is going on and others keep sewing typical Afghan clothes. Children tiptoe to steal a glimpse of the inside and quickly disappear&nbsp;when an elder spots them. It goes without saying that the camp has no running water and no sewage system. It is hot and flies are all over the place.</p>

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<h5>We came here because your countries bombed our land</h5>
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<p>&ldquo;We came here because your countries bombed our land,&rdquo; says the man that the small venue elected&nbsp;spokesperson. They all come from Helmand, the famous Taliban heartland in the south of Afghanistan. &ldquo;We live here since ten years,&rdquo; he says.&nbsp;Ten years. This is what often happens when you run away from war: You know when you leave, but you do not know when and if you will ever go back.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Of course we dream to go back to our land, but we also need security to do so,&rdquo; he says. Afghanistan is one of those places where war has never been short. US troops, sixteen years back, invaded the country, chasing the ghost of Al-Qaeda, and that very same war is still going on and disrupting lives.</p>

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<p>Afghanistan is one of those places where war has never been short (Others)</p>
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<p>One of the things war does is impose&nbsp;its violence on you. It doesn&rsquo;t matter if you were living your usual life, sowing&nbsp;seeds or grazing sheep. Violence does not ask your permission to destroy your life, it just does it. Suddenly, one day, while you are living your usual countryside life, some random armed group pops&nbsp;up and starts&nbsp;imposing its rules on you, and you accept it. You do so out of fear, out of a quick pro&nbsp;and con&nbsp;evaluation: &quot;I am a peaceful man, I want to mind my business, is refusing&nbsp;worth dying over?&quot; &nbsp;</p>

<p>It is easy for those who are not there&nbsp;to say&nbsp;&quot;revolt, fight back&quot;. Revolting against an armed power exercising its monopoly of violence on you, is one of those things which seems kind of easy when you are not the one doing it.</p>

<p>This is a war though, and it does not seek permission. You won&rsquo;t get away just abiding by someone&rsquo;s law, especially if that someone has enemies. One day&nbsp;your rulers&rsquo; enemy&nbsp;attacks. Jet fighters fly where you were used to seeing birds, and in&nbsp;seconds&nbsp;there is nothing left of your life except you. Your house, your fields, the small dusty roads of the village--all gone. There is nothing left, maybe some of your sheep, if you are lucky.&nbsp;</p>

<p>You look around, you visualise your small village in the countryside. Where pomegranates used to be as sweet as sugar, there are now piles of smoking rubbles. You try to make sense of the tragedy, you cry and you call to god, whatever god you believe in.&nbsp;No matter how hard you try, the reality is that war does not ask your permission to destroy your life. It just does it and it sucks.</p>

<p>Suddenly, you realise that along with other survivors you do not know what to do.</p>

<p>&quot;Maybe it is over. It was just a one-off attack,&quot;&nbsp;you speculate. You spend all the night with the elders&nbsp;discussing what to do, but there is no solution. Then, that armed group comes back at dawn and you realise all at once that what happened was not a one-off tragedy. The others, whoever they are, will bomb again in an endless cycle of destruction. It&rsquo;s done, war invaded your space, and it does not matter if you just wanted to keep looking after your sheep and your crop.</p>

<p>You do not get to decide.</p>

<p>Your conservation instinct often prevails: &ldquo;A&nbsp;wretched life is anyway better than a cruel death,&rdquo; you think. With these words in your mind, your private personal odyssey begins. You leave everything behind and you go.&nbsp;</p>

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<p>Where do you go? You try to reach a city, the biggest city. &lsquo;&ldquo;The government will help us,&rdquo; you think. You have a few chances in front of you: You can try to reach a refugee camp and live in a tent. You can become a beggar on the street of a city, knocking at fancy cars&rsquo; windows for&nbsp;coins. You can also live in an informal refugee camp on the city&#39;s outskirts. You can also end up in the hands of organised crime; Criminal networks build their empires exploiting people like you. Whatever you do, the outcome is pretty much the same: Your wait begins, because you did not leave your house by&nbsp;choice.&nbsp;</p>

<p>It does not matter how good you are at adapting, the melancholy of your previous life will not abandon you. The desire to go back, one day, where the pomegranates were as sweet as sugar,&nbsp;will always accompany you.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Some of us sell pomegranates to make a living here, but these are small, not good,&rdquo; says the village council&rsquo;s spokesperson.</p>

<p>This is not one peson&#39;s particular&nbsp;story,&nbsp;but the story of millions of people at the same time. According to the most recent UN survey, 65.5 million people are currently displaced worldwide. It is a record in human history, but nothing we should be proud of; 25.5 million of them are refugees, 40.3 million are internally displaced people and 2.8 million are asylum seekers.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In Afghanistan, in the first five and a half months of 2017, as many as 136,000 people have been displaced and 2,200 civilians got killed or injured during the ongoing conflict. Year by year, it is not getting any better. &ldquo;In 2010 in this hospital we were able to do also civilian traumas below fourteen. Now it is not an option anymore,&rdquo; says Giorgia Novello, medical coordinator for the Emergency hospital in Kabul. &ldquo;In all our projects, the number of war wounded has increased.&rdquo;</p>

<p>The men in the hut kept discussing politics and society&rsquo;s problem. They sit in a circle, exactly as they would have done in their villages if only the war would not have forced them to leave.</p>


65.5 million people are currently displaced from their home worldwide, a record in human history

A group of men sit in a small hut made of clay and mud in one of the city's many informal refugee camps. The hut is pretty crowded, someone stares curiously at what is going on and others keep sewing typical Afghan clothes. Children tiptoe to steal a glimpse of the inside and quickly disappear when an elder spots them. It goes without saying that the camp has no running water and no sewage system. It is hot and flies are all over the place. We came here because your countries bombed our land × “We came here because your countries bombed our land,” says the man that the small venue elected spokesperson. They all come from Helmand, the famous Taliban heartland in the south of Afghanistan. “We live here since ten years,” he says. Ten years. This is what often happens when you run away from war: You know when you leave, but you do not know when and if you will ever go back. “Of course we dream to go back to our land, but we also need security to do so,” he says. Afghanistan is one of those places where war has never been short. US troops, sixteen years back, invaded the country, chasing the ghost of Al-Qaeda, and that very same war is still going on and disrupting lives. Afghanistan is one of those places where war has never been short (Others) × One of the things war does is impose its violence on you. It doesn’t matter if you were living your usual life, sowing seeds or grazing sheep. Violence does not ask your permission to destroy your life, it just does it. Suddenly, one day, while you are living your usual countryside life, some random armed group pops up and starts imposing its rules on you, and you accept it. You do so out of fear, out of a quick pro and con evaluation: "I am a peaceful man, I want to mind my business, is refusing worth dying over?" It is easy for those who are not there to say "revolt, fight back". Revolting against an armed power exercising its monopoly of violence on you, is one of those things which seems kind of easy when you are not the one doing it. This is a war though, and it does not seek permission. You won’t get away just abiding by someone’s law, especially if that someone has enemies. One day your rulers’ enemy attacks. Jet fighters fly where you were used to seeing birds, and in seconds there is nothing left of your life except you. Your house, your fields, the small dusty roads of the village--all gone. There is nothing left, maybe some of your sheep, if you are lucky. You look around, you visualise your small village in the countryside. Where pomegranates used to be as sweet as sugar, there are now piles of smoking rubbles. You try to make sense of the tragedy, you cry and you call to god, whatever god you believe in. No matter how hard you try, the reality is that war does not ask your permission to destroy your life. It just does it and it sucks. Suddenly, you realise that along with other survivors you do not know what to do. "Maybe it is over. It was just a one-off attack," you speculate. You spend all the night with the elders discussing what to do, but there is no solution. Then, that armed group comes back at dawn and you realise all at once that what happened was not a one-off tragedy. The others, whoever they are, will bomb again in an endless cycle of destruction. It’s done, war invaded your space, and it does not matter if you just wanted to keep looking after your sheep and your crop. You do not get to decide. Your conservation instinct often prevails: “A wretched life is anyway better than a cruel death,” you think. With these words in your mind, your private personal odyssey begins. You leave everything behind and you go. No hopes from the government (Others) × Where do you go? You try to reach a city, the biggest city. ‘“The government will help us,” you think. You have a few chances in front of you: You can try to reach a refugee camp and live in a tent. You can become a beggar on the street of a city, knocking at fancy cars’ windows for coins. You can also live in an informal refugee camp on the city's outskirts. You can also end up in the hands of organised crime; Criminal networks build their empires exploiting people like you. Whatever you do, the outcome is pretty much the same: Your wait begins, because you did not leave your house by choice. It does not matter how good you are at adapting, the melancholy of your previous life will not abandon you. The desire to go back, one day, where the pomegranates were as sweet as sugar, will always accompany you. “Some of us sell pomegranates to make a living here, but these are small, not good,” says the village council’s spokesperson. This is not one peson's particular story, but the story of millions of people at the same time. According to the most recent UN survey, 65.5 million people are currently displaced worldwide. It is a record in human history, but nothing we should be proud of; 25.5 million of them are refugees, 40.3 million are internally displaced people and 2.8 million are asylum seekers. In Afghanistan, in the first five and a half months of 2017, as many as 136,000 people have been displaced and 2,200 civilians got killed or injured during the ongoing conflict. Year by year, it is not getting any better. “In 2010 in this hospital we were able to do also civilian traumas below fourteen. Now it is not an option anymore,” says Giorgia Novello, medical coordinator for the Emergency hospital in Kabul. “In all our projects, the number of war wounded has increased.” The men in the hut kept discussing politics and society’s problem. They sit in a circle, exactly as they would have done in their villages if only the war would not have forced them to leave.

All refugees desire to go back home, one day

<p>Iraqi forces started storming the Islamic State-held Old City of Mosul on Sunday, according to a released&nbsp;military statement. Mosul used to be the Islamic State (IS) capital in Iraq, but now the historic district is the last still under the militants&nbsp;control.</p>

<p>It is quintessential guerilla warfare here,&nbsp;fought in a densely-populated labyrinth&nbsp;of narrow alleyways.&nbsp;Combat&nbsp;is often conducted house by house.</p>

<p>About 100,000 civilians remain trapped here, stuck&nbsp;with little food, water and medicine. Hospital access is&nbsp;limited, too, according to the United Nations.</p>

<p>&quot;This is the last chapter&quot; in the offensive to take Mosul, said Lieutenant General Abdul Ghani al-Asadi, the commander of the Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) elite units.</p>

<p>The US-backed Iraqi offensive to capture Mosul entered its ninth month on Saturday. As part of a diabolical tactic to keep civilians in as human shields,&nbsp;IS&nbsp;snipers&nbsp;shoot&nbsp;at families trying to escape&nbsp;on foot or by boat across the Tigris River, the UN&nbsp;said on Friday.</p>

<p>Iraqi government forces regained eastern Mosul this&nbsp;January, then a month later began the offensive on the western side that includes the Old City.</p>

<p>The fall of Mosul would, in effect, mark the end of the Iraqi half of the &quot;caliphate&quot; that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared in a speech from an historic mosque in the Old City three years ago, covering parts of Iraq and Syria.</p>

<p>Here is a look back at WION&#39;s report from the end of 2016, at an earlier stage in&nbsp;the fight to take&nbsp;Mosul back from the IS.</p>

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<p>(With inputs from Reuters)</p>


'This is the last chapter' in the offensive to take Mosul, said Lieutenant General Abdul Ghani al-Asadi

Iraqi forces started storming the Islamic State-held Old City of Mosul on Sunday, according to a released military statement. Mosul used to be the Islamic State (IS) capital in Iraq, but now the historic district is the last still under the militants control. It is quintessential guerilla warfare here, fought in a densely-populated labyrinth of narrow alleyways. Combat is often conducted house by house. About 100,000 civilians remain trapped here, stuck with little food, water and medicine. Hospital access is limited, too, according to the United Nations. "This is the last chapter" in the offensive to take Mosul, said Lieutenant General Abdul Ghani al-Asadi, the commander of the Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) elite units. The US-backed Iraqi offensive to capture Mosul entered its ninth month on Saturday. As part of a diabolical tactic to keep civilians in as human shields, IS snipers shoot at families trying to escape on foot or by boat across the Tigris River, the UN said on Friday. Iraqi government forces regained eastern Mosul this January, then a month later began the offensive on the western side that includes the Old City. The fall of Mosul would, in effect, mark the end of the Iraqi half of the "caliphate" that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared in a speech from an historic mosque in the Old City three years ago, covering parts of Iraq and Syria. Here is a look back at WION's report from the end of 2016, at an earlier stage in the fight to take Mosul back from the IS. The pentagon has admitted to carrying out another airstrike that killed more than 200 civilians including women and children. The Iraqi vice president has called it a humanitarian disaster (APTN,WION) × (With inputs from Reuters)

Iraq forces start storming Mosul's Old City held by IS

<p>The US Defence Secretary Jim &quot;Mad Dog&quot;&nbsp;Mattis&nbsp;told the American Congress&nbsp;that the country is not winning in Afghanistan. This, in common words, means they are losing. Finally, someone acknowledged it.&nbsp;</p>

<p>A few months back, during a hearing in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee, General Nicholson, commander of the US forces in Afghanistan,&nbsp;had been more optimistic,&nbsp;defining the situation as a &quot;stalemate&quot;.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>According to the US military, the Afghan government can claim to control 60 per cent of the country&rsquo;s districts, 11 per cent less than the previous year. &nbsp;&quot;We recognise the need for urgency,&quot; Mattis said.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Trump vs Obama</strong></p>

<p>US President Donald Trump decided to leave it to the Pentagon to decide how many troops are needed on the ground. This decision gives more power to the military, a change&nbsp;from the previous administration which&nbsp;carefully supervised&nbsp;all military deployments.&nbsp;</p>

<p>It has now become clear that Trump&rsquo;s foreign policy, at least when it comes to war-torn areas, is more troops, more bombs, more fighting. Coalition forces have increased the frequency&nbsp;of airstrikes in both Syria and Iraq. It has been recently documented that they have been using white phosphorous over Mosul, where many civilians still live.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Afghanistan&#39;s battered forces</strong></p>

<p>Sixteen years and more than 2,300 military victims after the US invasion, Afghan Taliban are once again on the offensive, the Islamic State established a presence and cities are more prone to suicide attacks. The Afghan National Army (ANA) is tired, suffering and in a few cases vulnerable to Taliban infiltration. In 2016 alone they lost 6,000 soldiers.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The ANA faces shortages of up-to-standard equipment and, even worse, they lack ammunitions. Several military outposts are completely at the mercy of Taliban ambushes and do not even have enough bullets to try to hold their position. The most recent of such episodes happened in&nbsp;late May, when Taliban attacked a military outpost in Kandahar, killing 15 soldiers. A week earlier the same fate hit another outpost and ten Afghan soldiers lost their lives.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Afghans have a fighting spirit and the country&rsquo;s history proves it. They defeated every army who tried to conquer their land, but there is a limit to the sacrifice a nation can ask&nbsp;its soldiers. During a conflict dedication is important, but not enough.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The rampant corruption within the army ranks is also a major problem. At the end of March, Afghan defence officials communicated that more than a thousand military personnel, including generals and officers, had been fired on charges of corruption.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>History on their side?</strong></p>

<p>The US military and the coalition forces have not been able to secure a lasting stability in Afghanistan, and a few thousand soldiers will not save&nbsp;the country. This is being presented as&nbsp;sending&nbsp;in reinforcements to win the war, when really&nbsp;they&nbsp;may be&nbsp;needed to prevent losing it.</p>

<p>Afghan history shows pretty blatantly that the solution does not lie in further military actions, but in a difficult and painful dialogue between the belligerents. National reconciliation, an honest judiciary system, people&rsquo;s empowerment and economic development are the foundation&nbsp;on which Afghanistan can&nbsp;build peace. Time has proved how bombs are not effective.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Rumours&nbsp;</strong></p>

<p>In early May, media reported&nbsp;diplomatic rumours in Washington suggesting a possible deployment of 15,000 Indian soldiers in Afghanistan under the banner of the United Nations. This is just a very weak rumour, its origins are so unclear that it can hardly be taken into account. The Indian ambassador in Kabul, Mr. Manpreet Vohra, has denied any official communication on the matter between the two governments. &ldquo;There is no such proposal from the United Nations to the best of my knowledge,&rdquo; Mr. Vohra told WION.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><b>India in Afghanistan</b></p>

<p>If these media reports are to be believed, the move could result in a further destabilisation of Afghanistan. Many Taliban leaders and fighters are based out of Pakistan and are supported by the country&rsquo;s deep state. It is very likely that the reaction to a possible Indian deployment would be to increase the number of attacks, both against soldiers and civilians living in the country. This, for India, could also mean to &quot;bring the war home&quot;, increasing the risk of attacks within the country. Many people on the streets of Kabul are also fed up with war:&nbsp;They had enough foreign troops on their soil in the last decades, and nothing has changed.&nbsp;</p>

<p>India has been a precious ally to Afghanistan, and is putting a lot of effort in the reconstruction process. The Salma Dam is perhaps one of the largest infrastructure that India completed in the country, and it is directly benefitting the local population. Since 2001 India invested $2 billion in Afghanistan and in late 2016 it pledged another billion on top of that.</p>

<p>Afghanistan will benefit of the services provided by the&nbsp;satellite India recently launched and defined as&nbsp;&quot;a gift to South Asia&quot;. Indian doctors travel regularly to Afghanistan, and many Afghans are allowed to travel to India for medical purposes. All these investments are not made only out of generosity, there is a clear element of soft power. This is the way Delhi&nbsp;aims to&nbsp;solidify&nbsp;their position as major influencer of the South Asian region, and to isolate Islamabad as much as possible.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>One can doubt the sincerity of their motivation.</p>

<p>Whatever&nbsp;the purity of their&nbsp;motivation,&nbsp;as far as long-term stability goes&nbsp;India&#39;s increased&nbsp;civilian investment, rather than America increasing&nbsp;military deployment, is what will improve Afghanistan.</p>

<p>(WION)</p>


Trump pledged to let the Pentagon set troop levels in Afghanistan. Long-term this won't stabilise things, even if the Taliban is strong

The US Defence Secretary Jim "Mad Dog" Mattis told the American Congress that the country is not winning in Afghanistan. This, in common words, means they are losing. Finally, someone acknowledged it. A few months back, during a hearing in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee, General Nicholson, commander of the US forces in Afghanistan, had been more optimistic, defining the situation as a "stalemate". According to the US military, the Afghan government can claim to control 60 per cent of the country’s districts, 11 per cent less than the previous year. "We recognise the need for urgency," Mattis said. Trump vs Obama US President Donald Trump decided to leave it to the Pentagon to decide how many troops are needed on the ground. This decision gives more power to the military, a change from the previous administration which carefully supervised all military deployments. It has now become clear that Trump’s foreign policy, at least when it comes to war-torn areas, is more troops, more bombs, more fighting. Coalition forces have increased the frequency of airstrikes in both Syria and Iraq. It has been recently documented that they have been using white phosphorous over Mosul, where many civilians still live. Afghanistan's battered forces Sixteen years and more than 2,300 military victims after the US invasion, Afghan Taliban are once again on the offensive, the Islamic State established a presence and cities are more prone to suicide attacks. The Afghan National Army (ANA) is tired, suffering and in a few cases vulnerable to Taliban infiltration. In 2016 alone they lost 6,000 soldiers. The ANA faces shortages of up-to-standard equipment and, even worse, they lack ammunitions. Several military outposts are completely at the mercy of Taliban ambushes and do not even have enough bullets to try to hold their position. The most recent of such episodes happened in late May, when Taliban attacked a military outpost in Kandahar, killing 15 soldiers. A week earlier the same fate hit another outpost and ten Afghan soldiers lost their lives. Afghans have a fighting spirit and the country’s history proves it. They defeated every army who tried to conquer their land, but there is a limit to the sacrifice a nation can ask its soldiers. During a conflict dedication is important, but not enough. The rampant corruption within the army ranks is also a major problem. At the end of March, Afghan defence officials communicated that more than a thousand military personnel, including generals and officers, had been fired on charges of corruption. History on their side? The US military and the coalition forces have not been able to secure a lasting stability in Afghanistan, and a few thousand soldiers will not save the country. This is being presented as sending in reinforcements to win the war, when really they may be needed to prevent losing it. Afghan history shows pretty blatantly that the solution does not lie in further military actions, but in a difficult and painful dialogue between the belligerents. National reconciliation, an honest judiciary system, people’s empowerment and economic development are the foundation on which Afghanistan can build peace. Time has proved how bombs are not effective. Rumours In early May, media reported diplomatic rumours in Washington suggesting a possible deployment of 15,000 Indian soldiers in Afghanistan under the banner of the United Nations. This is just a very weak rumour, its origins are so unclear that it can hardly be taken into account. The Indian ambassador in Kabul, Mr. Manpreet Vohra, has denied any official communication on the matter between the two governments. “There is no such proposal from the United Nations to the best of my knowledge,” Mr. Vohra told WION. India in Afghanistan If these media reports are to be believed, the move could result in a further destabilisation of Afghanistan. Many Taliban leaders and fighters are based out of Pakistan and are supported by the country’s deep state. It is very likely that the reaction to a possible Indian deployment would be to increase the number of attacks, both against soldiers and civilians living in the country. This, for India, could also mean to "bring the war home", increasing the risk of attacks within the country. Many people on the streets of Kabul are also fed up with war: They had enough foreign troops on their soil in the last decades, and nothing has changed. India has been a precious ally to Afghanistan, and is putting a lot of effort in the reconstruction process. The Salma Dam is perhaps one of the largest infrastructure that India completed in the country, and it is directly benefitting the local population. Since 2001 India invested $2 billion in Afghanistan and in late 2016 it pledged another billion on top of that. Afghanistan will benefit of the services provided by the satellite India recently launched and defined as "a gift to South Asia". Indian doctors travel regularly to Afghanistan, and many Afghans are allowed to travel to India for medical purposes. All these investments are not made only out of generosity, there is a clear element of soft power. This is the way Delhi aims to solidify their position as major influencer of the South Asian region, and to isolate Islamabad as much as possible. One can doubt the sincerity of their motivation. Whatever the purity of their motivation, as far as long-term stability goes India's increased civilian investment, rather than America increasing military deployment, is what will improve Afghanistan. (WION)

Analysis from Kabul: Afghanistan needs civilian investment, not bombs

<p>&ldquo;We will stay here until the government will grant us our rights. We will stay here for one day, one week, one month or one year, whatever it takes,&rdquo; says Hangeza Habibia,&nbsp;an Afghan woman in her thirties. She is one of the rare women&nbsp;found&nbsp;in&nbsp;the protest tents around Kabul. &nbsp;</p>

<p>&ldquo;Every woman who is willing to protest should come. You see that I am alone now, but normally 30 per cent of the people in this tent are women.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>

<p>Demonstrators like Hangeza&nbsp;ask&nbsp;for increased&nbsp;safety in&nbsp;Kabul&#39;s streets. &ldquo;We are coming here because in one day we had 600 people murdered or injured. We are coming here to protect our brothers and to avoid that their blood floods the street once again. Who will grant that we are not killed tomorrow? Who will grant that we can stay safe in our houses?&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>

<p>Demonstrators criticise both President Ashraf Ghani and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah, requesting they&nbsp;either resign or&nbsp;fire their topmost security advisers.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The May 31 attack which&nbsp;killed more than a hundred people&nbsp;is where it all started, the source&nbsp;of the current bout&nbsp;of political instability throughout&nbsp;the city. To make things worse, suicide attackers targeted the&nbsp;funeral, killing another seven people and injuring 119.</p>

<p>People took to the street to demand more security. &nbsp;</p>

<p>Police forces reacted aggressively:&nbsp;They started shooting against the crowd.&nbsp;Nine protestors died and many got injured. According to police sources, only two people died and their men started shooting because protesters were carrying weapons and started shooting first.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&ldquo;The Afghan national police shot against our chests. They killed people during demonstrations and this is why we put up these tents,&rdquo; says 35-year-old Raheem Mukhtari. He has been part of the protests since the very beginning, and like&nbsp;many others has no intention of&nbsp;leaving.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>More than security</strong></p>

<p>There are at least six tents across the city where people gather to rally and chant slogans throughout the day. The city&rsquo;s security is no longer&nbsp;the sole cause&nbsp;of the protest; the protesters are bonded by&nbsp;a&nbsp;mix of anger and&nbsp;frustration stemming from&nbsp;the country&rsquo;s brutal&nbsp;economy, its low&nbsp;job prospects and, of course, the increased&nbsp;violence.&nbsp;A feeling of mistrust towards the government has always accompanied President Ghani; The recent massive explosion functioned as an ignitor,&nbsp;transforming the general sentiment of mistrust into&nbsp;permanent protest.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Many political groups and parties&nbsp;also feel sidelined, and would be happy to see Ghani&rsquo;s presidency&nbsp;end.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&ldquo;I fought for this country, I spilled my own blood,&rdquo; shouts a man in his forties from the tent&#39;s stage. &ldquo;And for what? Now, wherever I stamp my foot I only see blood coming out from this soil.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>

<p>Several tents display&nbsp;banners with a crossed-out&nbsp;picture of President Ghani.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&ldquo;We are asking to the government to resign, they did not deliver what they promised during the election and we want them to go. Every day we have martyrs and new killings. We want Abdullah Abdullah and Ghani to resign, we want a temporary government until they organise new elections,&rdquo; says Ameen Ameni, a 24-year-old demonstrator.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The tents are not very crowded and the protest does not seem&nbsp;capable of crossing the city&rsquo;s boundaries. &nbsp;</p>

<p>This does not mean that things are under control though. Kabul is a city full of weapons and informal political militias who are ready, and often willing,&nbsp;to enter in action if requested to. The capital&nbsp;is not the entire country&nbsp;but the crucial power centres are here, and that is where much of the country&rsquo;s political&nbsp;and economical&nbsp;game is decided.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Protesters say that they do not belong to any political party, but listening to the many informal conversations in and around the tents, it turns out many of them are sympathisers of the influential political party, Jamiat-e Islami, currently led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Salahuddin Rabbani. According to the non-profit research organisation Afghanistan Analyst Network, the party has not yet decided its position on&nbsp;whether or not they want street riots to end.&nbsp;So far,&nbsp;they have not said or done anything to stop or calm the people.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Given&nbsp;recent events, the request for safety and stability is totally legitimate, but the political turn that the protest is taking could become dangerous. The Kabul &quot;tent sit-ins&quot;, even if not visibly massive, contain all the ingredients to give rise to&nbsp;countrywide instability and&nbsp;a power vacuum; Both, possibly&nbsp;the last two things Afghanistan currently needs.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Watch:</strong></p>

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<p>WIONs Daniele Pagani is in Kabul tracking the developments there. He brings this ground report on the mood on the streets of Kabul (WION)</p>
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<p>(WION)</p>


The increase in attacks in Kabul has brought out other economic grievances. The result of this mix could be more instability and a power vacuum

“We will stay here until the government will grant us our rights. We will stay here for one day, one week, one month or one year, whatever it takes,” says Hangeza Habibia, an Afghan woman in her thirties. She is one of the rare women found in the protest tents around Kabul. “Every woman who is willing to protest should come. You see that I am alone now, but normally 30 per cent of the people in this tent are women.” Demonstrators like Hangeza ask for increased safety in Kabul's streets. “We are coming here because in one day we had 600 people murdered or injured. We are coming here to protect our brothers and to avoid that their blood floods the street once again. Who will grant that we are not killed tomorrow? Who will grant that we can stay safe in our houses?” Demonstrators criticise both President Ashraf Ghani and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah, requesting they either resign or fire their topmost security advisers. The May 31 attack which killed more than a hundred people is where it all started, the source of the current bout of political instability throughout the city. To make things worse, suicide attackers targeted the funeral, killing another seven people and injuring 119. People took to the street to demand more security. Police forces reacted aggressively: They started shooting against the crowd. Nine protestors died and many got injured. According to police sources, only two people died and their men started shooting because protesters were carrying weapons and started shooting first. “The Afghan national police shot against our chests. They killed people during demonstrations and this is why we put up these tents,” says 35-year-old Raheem Mukhtari. He has been part of the protests since the very beginning, and like many others has no intention of leaving. More than security There are at least six tents across the city where people gather to rally and chant slogans throughout the day. The city’s security is no longer the sole cause of the protest; the protesters are bonded by a mix of anger and frustration stemming from the country’s brutal economy, its low job prospects and, of course, the increased violence. A feeling of mistrust towards the government has always accompanied President Ghani; The recent massive explosion functioned as an ignitor, transforming the general sentiment of mistrust into permanent protest. Many political groups and parties also feel sidelined, and would be happy to see Ghani’s presidency end. “I fought for this country, I spilled my own blood,” shouts a man in his forties from the tent's stage. “And for what? Now, wherever I stamp my foot I only see blood coming out from this soil.” Several tents display banners with a crossed-out picture of President Ghani. “We are asking to the government to resign, they did not deliver what they promised during the election and we want them to go. Every day we have martyrs and new killings. We want Abdullah Abdullah and Ghani to resign, we want a temporary government until they organise new elections,” says Ameen Ameni, a 24-year-old demonstrator. The tents are not very crowded and the protest does not seem capable of crossing the city’s boundaries. This does not mean that things are under control though. Kabul is a city full of weapons and informal political militias who are ready, and often willing, to enter in action if requested to. The capital is not the entire country but the crucial power centres are here, and that is where much of the country’s political and economical game is decided. Protesters say that they do not belong to any political party, but listening to the many informal conversations in and around the tents, it turns out many of them are sympathisers of the influential political party, Jamiat-e Islami, currently led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Salahuddin Rabbani. According to the non-profit research organisation Afghanistan Analyst Network, the party has not yet decided its position on whether or not they want street riots to end. So far, they have not said or done anything to stop or calm the people. Given recent events, the request for safety and stability is totally legitimate, but the political turn that the protest is taking could become dangerous. The Kabul "tent sit-ins", even if not visibly massive, contain all the ingredients to give rise to countrywide instability and a power vacuum; Both, possibly the last two things Afghanistan currently needs. Watch: WIONs Daniele Pagani is in Kabul tracking the developments there. He brings this ground report on the mood on the streets of Kabul (WION) × (WION)

WION Exclusive: Afganistan ground report

<p>&ldquo;Sir, you have been there&hellip;to my town? How is the situation?&rdquo; asks the barber.</p>

<p>He comes from Qaraqosh, the main Christian city in northern Iraq which the Islamic State (IS)&nbsp;recently lost after two years of occupation.</p>

<p>It is not&nbsp;easy to answer&mdash; the city is almost completely destroyed, houses have been vandalised, shops have been torched and churches have been used as shooting camps and Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) factories.</p>

<p>&ldquo;I am afraid to tell you that the situation is very bad. It will take time for you to go back.&rdquo;</p>

<p>He smiles, interprets this reporter&rsquo;s concern and says: &ldquo;No problem sir, you don&rsquo;t have to be sad. Houses, streets, we can build everything again. The important thing is that we are alive. Now, come! It is time to shave your beard, I know you journalists never have time.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>

<p>The barber, just like many other refugees, lives in Ainkawa, a Christian enclave in the city of Erbil. He requested anonymity, specifying that he would love to be called just &ldquo;the barber&rdquo;, the Barber of Qaraqosh.</p>

<p>Before the Islamic State came in August 2014, Qaraqosh was&nbsp;lively. But when IS came, fifty thousand people had to flee. They knew the terrorist organisation would show them no mercy. Except for some elders and those very ill, everyone left. Destinies of those who stuck on remain unknown.</p>

<p>The Barber of Qaraqosh is a&nbsp;talkative man. As he shaves my beard&nbsp;he describes his city, the barber shop he had with his brother and his&nbsp;many memories&nbsp;of the town.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&ldquo;You know sir, if you go there, where the main street crosses the hospital, my shop is there. You can see my face on the board (of the shop),&rdquo; he says.&nbsp;</p>

<p>With a glint in his eye, he talks about returning to his hometown.&nbsp;&quot;No problem, we have waited for two years sir, there is no problem in waiting some more months.&rdquo;</p>

<p>There was no point in extinguishing the slivers of hope he harbours, but it was difficult to imagine the town described to me by the Barber.</p>

<p><br />
<strong>Flattened town</strong></p>

<p>Today, Qaraqosh is a ghost town. The abandoned buildings bear the scars of the heavy battles that&nbsp;raged&nbsp;for the last few years. Houses have been&nbsp;destroyed by air strikes, some have been damaged from the inside and some razed to the ground.</p>

<p>Islamic State fighters ensured the town was ravaged. They&nbsp;burned&nbsp;and destroyed&nbsp;everything they could lay their hands on: refrigerators, furnitures, sofas, shops, cars...&nbsp;</p>

<p>All the houses we visited were completely vandalised. Their idea was to leave behind a trail of enduring destruction.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Father Patros, who was a priest in one of the churches in Qaraqosh, showed us the house where he lived. The walls remained intact, but the interior of the house was destroyed. The boundary wall was partially broken too so as to create a passage between the priest&#39;s home and the next and allow IS personnel to move quickly when counter-attacking.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The other thing one observes is that many buildings in the town have bordering basements. Islamic State brought down the walls dividing them and connected the basements, to allow them to move around underground without being seen.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>IS vestige removed, but fears persist</strong></p>

<p>There are no more IS jihadists in Qaraqosh. The last instance of violence was reported on November 3. The city is now under the control of the Nineveh Protection Units (Assyrian Christian militia) whose soldiers are mainly from this area. But tensions continue to run high.&nbsp;</p>

<p>During our visit, we were at one point asked to hide behind a wall, for the soldier heard a suspicious noise. It is not unusual for snipers to remain hidden for days and then carry out surprise attacks.&nbsp;</p>

<p>It will take months before civilians are allowed to return to their homes.&nbsp;</p>

<p>IS scattered the city with IEDs&nbsp;and it will take a while before they are removed. Every single object could be an active bomb. The objects could explode by simply moving them.&nbsp;</p>

<p>We spotted a phone placed on a wall, in a very conspicuous&nbsp;position, too perfectly placed with its receiver on and an IS propaganda pamphlet embedded underneath it. It is impossible to know&nbsp;if it is an IED, but the anomalous place and the pamphlet seem&nbsp;like an invitation&nbsp;to raise the receiver, thereby&nbsp;triggering a bomb.</p>

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<p>It is impossible to know&nbsp;if it is an IED, but the anomalous place and the pamphlet seem&nbsp;like an invitation&nbsp;to raise the receiver, thereby&nbsp;triggering a bomb. (WION)</p>
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<p>Many devices have already been detonated, but many could still be placed inside the houses. The danger of random explosions could persist for months;&nbsp;Qaraqosh is not a small village and it is virtually impossible to check every single corner. Driving back to the NPU base in the town, we come across a rudimentary armoured vehicle which IS meant to launch against the troops entering the city. The car was gunned down by light artillery, but it still contains all the explosives and&nbsp;could blast at anytime.</p>

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<p>We come across a rudimentary armoured vehicle which IS meant to launch against the troops entering the city. The car was gunned down by light artillery, but it still contains all the explosives and&nbsp;could blast at anytime. (WION)</p>
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<p>Buildings and infrastructure&nbsp;are not the only things that&nbsp;got destroyed in these two years under&nbsp;Islamic State control. &ldquo;Father Patros do you think it will ever be possible to rebuild the social fabric of the city, to live together with the muslim population in peace?&rdquo;</p>

<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know. I am a Christian priest and I must be tolerant, I must put all my effort. Many of us though know that people from the nearby villages helped the Islamic State, and it will be very difficult to go back to normality.&rdquo;</p>

<p>This is one of the many situations the invasion of the Islamic State worsened in an already divided and potentially sectarian society. It brought suspicion&nbsp;among the people, and mistrust toward whoever did not flee, who are&nbsp;believed to have supported the terrorist organisation. Suspicion is an enemy of coexistence, and rebuilding a peaceful&nbsp;society where the many souls of Iraq will live together will&nbsp;probably&nbsp;be the most difficult problem to solve&nbsp;after IS&#39;&nbsp;defeat.</p>

<p>(WION)</p>


Qaraqosh is a ghost town; its abandoned buildings bear the scars of heavy battles that?have raged?here for the past few years

“Sir, you have been there…to my town? How is the situation?” asks the barber. He comes from Qaraqosh, the main Christian city in northern Iraq which the Islamic State (IS) recently lost after two years of occupation. It is not easy to answer— the city is almost completely destroyed, houses have been vandalised, shops have been torched and churches have been used as shooting camps and Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) factories. “I am afraid to tell you that the situation is very bad. It will take time for you to go back.” He smiles, interprets this reporter’s concern and says: “No problem sir, you don’t have to be sad. Houses, streets, we can build everything again. The important thing is that we are alive. Now, come! It is time to shave your beard, I know you journalists never have time.” The barber, just like many other refugees, lives in Ainkawa, a Christian enclave in the city of Erbil. He requested anonymity, specifying that he would love to be called just “the barber”, the Barber of Qaraqosh. Before the Islamic State came in August 2014, Qaraqosh was lively. But when IS came, fifty thousand people had to flee. They knew the terrorist organisation would show them no mercy. Except for some elders and those very ill, everyone left. Destinies of those who stuck on remain unknown. The Barber of Qaraqosh is a talkative man. As he shaves my beard he describes his city, the barber shop he had with his brother and his many memories of the town. “You know sir, if you go there, where the main street crosses the hospital, my shop is there. You can see my face on the board (of the shop),” he says. With a glint in his eye, he talks about returning to his hometown. "No problem, we have waited for two years sir, there is no problem in waiting some more months.” There was no point in extinguishing the slivers of hope he harbours, but it was difficult to imagine the town described to me by the Barber. Flattened town Today, Qaraqosh is a ghost town. The abandoned buildings bear the scars of the heavy battles that raged for the last few years. Houses have been destroyed by air strikes, some have been damaged from the inside and some razed to the ground. Islamic State fighters ensured the town was ravaged. They burned and destroyed everything they could lay their hands on: refrigerators, furnitures, sofas, shops, cars... All the houses we visited were completely vandalised. Their idea was to leave behind a trail of enduring destruction. Father Patros, who was a priest in one of the churches in Qaraqosh, showed us the house where he lived. The walls remained intact, but the interior of the house was destroyed. The boundary wall was partially broken too so as to create a passage between the priest's home and the next and allow IS personnel to move quickly when counter-attacking. The other thing one observes is that many buildings in the town have bordering basements. Islamic State brought down the walls dividing them and connected the basements, to allow them to move around underground without being seen. IS vestige removed, but fears persist There are no more IS jihadists in Qaraqosh. The last instance of violence was reported on November 3. The city is now under the control of the Nineveh Protection Units (Assyrian Christian militia) whose soldiers are mainly from this area. But tensions continue to run high. During our visit, we were at one point asked to hide behind a wall, for the soldier heard a suspicious noise. It is not unusual for snipers to remain hidden for days and then carry out surprise attacks. It will take months before civilians are allowed to return to their homes. IS scattered the city with IEDs and it will take a while before they are removed. Every single object could be an active bomb. The objects could explode by simply moving them. We spotted a phone placed on a wall, in a very conspicuous position, too perfectly placed with its receiver on and an IS propaganda pamphlet embedded underneath it. It is impossible to know if it is an IED, but the anomalous place and the pamphlet seem like an invitation to raise the receiver, thereby triggering a bomb. It is impossible to know if it is an IED, but the anomalous place and the pamphlet seem like an invitation to raise the receiver, thereby triggering a bomb. (WION) × Many devices have already been detonated, but many could still be placed inside the houses. The danger of random explosions could persist for months; Qaraqosh is not a small village and it is virtually impossible to check every single corner. Driving back to the NPU base in the town, we come across a rudimentary armoured vehicle which IS meant to launch against the troops entering the city. The car was gunned down by light artillery, but it still contains all the explosives and could blast at anytime. We come across a rudimentary armoured vehicle which IS meant to launch against the troops entering the city. The car was gunned down by light artillery, but it still contains all the explosives and could blast at anytime. (WION) × Buildings and infrastructure are not the only things that got destroyed in these two years under Islamic State control. “Father Patros do you think it will ever be possible to rebuild the social fabric of the city, to live together with the muslim population in peace?” “I don’t know. I am a Christian priest and I must be tolerant, I must put all my effort. Many of us though know that people from the nearby villages helped the Islamic State, and it will be very difficult to go back to normality.” This is one of the many situations the invasion of the Islamic State worsened in an already divided and potentially sectarian society. It brought suspicion among the people, and mistrust toward whoever did not flee, who are believed to have supported the terrorist organisation. Suspicion is an enemy of coexistence, and rebuilding a peaceful society where the many souls of Iraq will live together will probably be the most difficult problem to solve after IS' defeat. (WION)

Iraq's ravaged town of Qaraqosh embodies IS' appetite for destruction

<p>As Iraqi regular forces approach&nbsp;Mosul&#39;s&nbsp;eastern suburbs, Islamic State&#39;s&nbsp;last stronghold&nbsp;in Iraq, they got some good news.</p>

<p>Fuad Hussein, the chief of staff to Kurdish president Masoud Barzani, declared that IS chief&nbsp;&ldquo;Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is there and, if he is killed, it will mean the collapse of the whole [IS] system&rdquo;.</p>

<p>The self-proclaimed caliph, the de facto leader of the sunni terrorist&nbsp;organisation, remained hidden for almost a year, but opted to remain in Mosul while other IS senior leaders decided to leave and reach&nbsp;Syria. Many important figures have been killed during the last offensives to retake important cities like Fallujah and Ramadi.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The importance of Mosul for the terrorist organisation is not only a matter of military control but also a fundamental part of the narrative of being a&nbsp;state --&nbsp;losing it will surely represent a major psychological blow for the many who decided to fight within IS ranks. It will be difficult to sustain the propaganda of a newly born and strong state if the organisation cannot manage to&nbsp;defend its Iraqi capital.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The battle to reconquer the city of Mosul is far from&nbsp;over, it&nbsp;has just entered a new phase which is likely to be the toughest, characterised by urban-guerrilla and unconventional warfare. Iraqi forces reached the eastern border of the city, but there are still many villages especially on the northern side, which need to be conquered and secured before stating that the Islamic State is definitely surrounded.</p>

<p>The Islamic State is also putting up&nbsp;fierce resistance against the first small advance of the Iraqi army. &ldquo;Daesh (IS) is fighting back and have set up concrete blast walls to block off the Karama neighbourhood and [stop] our troops&rsquo; advance,&rdquo; said Major General Sami al-Aridi of the Iraqi special forces.</p>

<p>Fuad Hussein said &ldquo;it is obvious that they will lose, but not how long this will take to happen&rdquo;, and stated that the Peshmerga, the Kurdish regional forces, were surprised when they found an&nbsp;extensive network of underground tunnels which the Islamic State created in&nbsp;the villages and the towns surrounding Mosul.In several areas of the city, the terrorist organisation enjoys the protection&nbsp;of a part of the local population which will prove to be important.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Major General Najim Al-Jubouri, commander in chief of the Nineveh operations, told me in an interview: &ldquo;The most important part of the Mosul offensive is the people. If we bring here the Chinese army, they will not be able to win if they do not enjoy the support of the people, and I believe that the bad relation between the security forces and the people played a central role in the rise of the Islamic State.&rdquo;</p>

<p>The presence of al-Baghdadi in Mosul could make things harder, for many of its loyalists will surely fight until the very end to protect the city. While the&nbsp;eventual death&nbsp;of the&nbsp;man who is perceived by&nbsp;many to be&nbsp;the father of the Islamic State could result in several organisational problems, but it is something which should not be taken for granted.</p>

<p>Other terrorist organisations proved&nbsp;capable of&nbsp;substituting&nbsp;their leaders and continued&nbsp;their operations, such as al Quaeda, which did not dissolve after Bin Laden&rsquo;s died. Al-Baghdadi&rsquo;s decision not to leave Mosul and eventually die&nbsp;fighting, should he in fact be killed, could also turn out to set an example for the many terrorists still supporting the organisation. It could&nbsp;become a powerful instrument of propaganda on how a real Islamic State member should not fear death and martyrdom.&nbsp;</p>

<p>(WION)</p>


IS is putting up fierce resistance, and even their leader's death might inspire them to fight harder towards martyrdom

As Iraqi regular forces approach Mosul's eastern suburbs, Islamic State's last stronghold in Iraq, they got some good news. Fuad Hussein, the chief of staff to Kurdish president Masoud Barzani, declared that IS chief “Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is there and, if he is killed, it will mean the collapse of the whole [IS] system”. The self-proclaimed caliph, the de facto leader of the sunni terrorist organisation, remained hidden for almost a year, but opted to remain in Mosul while other IS senior leaders decided to leave and reach Syria. Many important figures have been killed during the last offensives to retake important cities like Fallujah and Ramadi. The importance of Mosul for the terrorist organisation is not only a matter of military control but also a fundamental part of the narrative of being a state -- losing it will surely represent a major psychological blow for the many who decided to fight within IS ranks. It will be difficult to sustain the propaganda of a newly born and strong state if the organisation cannot manage to defend its Iraqi capital. The battle to reconquer the city of Mosul is far from over, it has just entered a new phase which is likely to be the toughest, characterised by urban-guerrilla and unconventional warfare. Iraqi forces reached the eastern border of the city, but there are still many villages especially on the northern side, which need to be conquered and secured before stating that the Islamic State is definitely surrounded. The Islamic State is also putting up fierce resistance against the first small advance of the Iraqi army. “Daesh (IS) is fighting back and have set up concrete blast walls to block off the Karama neighbourhood and [stop] our troops’ advance,” said Major General Sami al-Aridi of the Iraqi special forces. Fuad Hussein said “it is obvious that they will lose, but not how long this will take to happen”, and stated that the Peshmerga, the Kurdish regional forces, were surprised when they found an extensive network of underground tunnels which the Islamic State created in the villages and the towns surrounding Mosul.In several areas of the city, the terrorist organisation enjoys the protection of a part of the local population which will prove to be important. Major General Najim Al-Jubouri, commander in chief of the Nineveh operations, told me in an interview: “The most important part of the Mosul offensive is the people. If we bring here the Chinese army, they will not be able to win if they do not enjoy the support of the people, and I believe that the bad relation between the security forces and the people played a central role in the rise of the Islamic State.” The presence of al-Baghdadi in Mosul could make things harder, for many of its loyalists will surely fight until the very end to protect the city. While the eventual death of the man who is perceived by many to be the father of the Islamic State could result in several organisational problems, but it is something which should not be taken for granted. Other terrorist organisations proved capable of substituting their leaders and continued their operations, such as al Quaeda, which did not dissolve after Bin Laden’s died. Al-Baghdadi’s decision not to leave Mosul and eventually die fighting, should he in fact be killed, could also turn out to set an example for the many terrorists still supporting the organisation. It could become a powerful instrument of propaganda on how a real Islamic State member should not fear death and martyrdom. (WION)

Islamic State facing trouble in Mosul, but not finished yet

<p>The Mosul offensive, arguably one of the most important military attacks in the past five years in Western Asia, is approaching. It is most likely only&nbsp;days before the Iraqi Prime Minister orders its forces to advance towards the de facto capital of the Islamic State in Iraq. Everything seems to be ready and coordinated except one thing: the role of Turkey.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Turkey&#39;s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is willing to deploy&nbsp;troops to&nbsp;attack&nbsp;Mosul, whatever the cost. Iraqi&nbsp;Prime Minister&nbsp;Haider al-Habadi, who is also the Iraqi army&#39;s commander-in-chief, does not share the same idea. Recently, he&nbsp;defined Turkish troops as an &ldquo;occupying force&rdquo;. Tones of the dispute are heated.&nbsp;Erdogan, speaking at&nbsp;the ninth Eurasian Islamic Council in Istanbul, told the Iraqi Prime Minister,&nbsp;&ldquo;know your place&rdquo; and &ldquo;you are not my interlocutor, you are not at my level&rdquo;. The two countries have withdrawn their respective ambassadors for consultation.</p>

<p>Ankara&rsquo;s military presence does not come out of the blue.&nbsp;Turkish forces have been located in Iraqi Kurdistan&nbsp;on the basis of an agreement with Iraqi Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani. In the past few years, Barzani&nbsp;has become&nbsp;the main interlocutor and advocate of a Turkish presence in the region, especially due to the volume of investments Ankara is undertaking in the territories he administers.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Erdogan considers the right to participate in the battle of Mosul as the natural right of Turkey to fight against the Islamic State, but this seems&nbsp;more of a pretext for a renewed activism of the Turkish President, who aims to become a major power,&nbsp;if not <em>the </em>major power,&nbsp;in Western Asia.</p>

<p>After the failed coup, Erdogan needs&nbsp;to project an image of strength in order to stabilise his position both on the national and international stage. It is no secret that the purges against more than 100,000 workers&nbsp;have contributed in worsening Turkey&rsquo;s international reputation.</p>

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<h5>Erdogan, speaking at&nbsp;the ninth Eurasian Islamic Council in Istanbul, told the Iraqi Prime Minister,&nbsp;&ldquo;know your place&rdquo; and &ldquo;you are not my interlocutor, you are not at my level&rdquo;.</h5>
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<div class="share-blockquote"><a class="twitter popup" href="http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Erdogan, speaking at?the ninth Eurasian Islamic Council in Istanbul, told the Iraqi Prime Minister,??know your place? and ?you are not my interlocutor, you are not at my level?. " target="_blank"><i class="fa fa-share">&nbsp;</i></a></div>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Repression has been particularly tough in Turkey&rsquo;s south-east&nbsp;where a majority of Kurds live.&nbsp;The iron-fist&nbsp;Erdogan is showing the Iraqi Prime Minister is part of a series of Turkish aggressive initiatives, starting&nbsp;with the purge.</p>

<p>A month after the coup, Turkey launched operation Euphrates Shield in order to secure the last 95 kilometres&nbsp;of Syrian border under Islamic State control, an action which was presented as a major success. Too few asked themselves what took so long to secure such a small area which was commonly known as the &ldquo;terror corridor&rdquo; and from which foreign fighters, supplies, oil and ammunitions kept going and coming from IS territories.</p>

<p>Erdogan&rsquo;s offensive began soon after the Kurdish militias, known as the People&rsquo;s Protection Units (YPG), crossed the western banks of the Euphrates river, the red line Ankara established for them. That very segment of border&nbsp;divides the Kurdish-controlled region of Rojava in north Syria and the Kurdish-controlled area of Afrin, in north-west Syria. Turkey wanted to&nbsp;secure&nbsp;it&nbsp;to avoid an autonomous Kurdish area right across the border, and President Erdogan made it clear then that the war will not end until every terrorist organisation, including the YPG and the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), is defeated. Turkey&nbsp;directly links the YPG with the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), an organisation they classify as terrorists, against&nbsp;whom they fought a three-decade guerrilla war.</p>

<p>Soon after the operation, Turkish forces and Turkish-backed&nbsp;rebels of the undefined Islamist assortment under the name of Free Syrian Army, started fighting against the Kurds, forcing them to retreat.</p>

<p>This created diplomatic problems with the Department of State, which was a direct ally of the Syrian Kurds, with whom they liberated a significant part of Northern Syria and important cities like Kobane and Manbij from the IS.</p>

<p>The situation paved the way for Russia that is also using the Syrian civil war to renew its presence in Western Asia. During their last meeting in Istanbul on October 10, Russia&rsquo;s President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Erdogan agreed to normalise relations, which became tense after the Turkish forces shot down a Russian jet in November 2015. They signed an agreement to build two gas pipelines&nbsp;and other trade agreements which will help Russia to overcome the EU sanctions.</p>

<p>Another reason for Turkey to insist on keeping their troops in Iraqi Kurdistan is the presence of the PKK in the Qandil mountains. Turkey&#39;s&nbsp;air force is constantly bombing the area behind the Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah, close to the Iranian border, where the PKK has its headquarters. Airstrikes were registered less than three days ago.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The conflict between Ankara and the Kurdish Workers&#39; Party is another phenomenon the Iraqi Prime Minister wants to eradicate from his territory, and an additional reason to ask Ankara to withdraw its troops. Al-Habadi declared at the end of September that &ldquo;Iraq is not a place for the PKK and Turkey&rsquo;s struggle&rdquo;.</p>

<p>Deteriorating relations between Turkey and the Iraqi central government could result&nbsp;in the delaying of the Mosul offensive which is a symbol of the war against Islamic State in Syria in Iraq. A highly fragmented conflict, made of wars-within-the-wars where regional powers, ethnic groups and political parties use the fight against the Islamic State as a pretext to increase their military presence and areas of influence on the ground.&nbsp;</p>

<p>(WION)</p>


While an international coalition prepares to attack IS's Iraqi base, Mosul, Turkey's diplomatic fight with Iraq could delay things

The Mosul offensive, arguably one of the most important military attacks in the past five years in Western Asia, is approaching. It is most likely only days before the Iraqi Prime Minister orders its forces to advance towards the de facto capital of the Islamic State in Iraq. Everything seems to be ready and coordinated except one thing: the role of Turkey. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is willing to deploy troops to attack Mosul, whatever the cost. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Habadi, who is also the Iraqi army's commander-in-chief, does not share the same idea. Recently, he defined Turkish troops as an “occupying force”. Tones of the dispute are heated. Erdogan, speaking at the ninth Eurasian Islamic Council in Istanbul, told the Iraqi Prime Minister, “know your place” and “you are not my interlocutor, you are not at my level”. The two countries have withdrawn their respective ambassadors for consultation. Ankara’s military presence does not come out of the blue. Turkish forces have been located in Iraqi Kurdistan on the basis of an agreement with Iraqi Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani. In the past few years, Barzani has become the main interlocutor and advocate of a Turkish presence in the region, especially due to the volume of investments Ankara is undertaking in the territories he administers. Erdogan considers the right to participate in the battle of Mosul as the natural right of Turkey to fight against the Islamic State, but this seems more of a pretext for a renewed activism of the Turkish President, who aims to become a major power, if not the major power, in Western Asia. After the failed coup, Erdogan needs to project an image of strength in order to stabilise his position both on the national and international stage. It is no secret that the purges against more than 100,000 workers have contributed in worsening Turkey’s international reputation. Erdogan, speaking at the ninth Eurasian Islamic Council in Istanbul, told the Iraqi Prime Minister, “know your place” and “you are not my interlocutor, you are not at my level”. × Repression has been particularly tough in Turkey’s south-east where a majority of Kurds live. The iron-fist Erdogan is showing the Iraqi Prime Minister is part of a series of Turkish aggressive initiatives, starting with the purge. A month after the coup, Turkey launched operation Euphrates Shield in order to secure the last 95 kilometres of Syrian border under Islamic State control, an action which was presented as a major success. Too few asked themselves what took so long to secure such a small area which was commonly known as the “terror corridor” and from which foreign fighters, supplies, oil and ammunitions kept going and coming from IS territories. Erdogan’s offensive began soon after the Kurdish militias, known as the People’s Protection Units (YPG), crossed the western banks of the Euphrates river, the red line Ankara established for them. That very segment of border divides the Kurdish-controlled region of Rojava in north Syria and the Kurdish-controlled area of Afrin, in north-west Syria. Turkey wanted to secure it to avoid an autonomous Kurdish area right across the border, and President Erdogan made it clear then that the war will not end until every terrorist organisation, including the YPG and the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), is defeated. Turkey directly links the YPG with the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), an organisation they classify as terrorists, against whom they fought a three-decade guerrilla war. Soon after the operation, Turkish forces and Turkish-backed rebels of the undefined Islamist assortment under the name of Free Syrian Army, started fighting against the Kurds, forcing them to retreat. This created diplomatic problems with the Department of State, which was a direct ally of the Syrian Kurds, with whom they liberated a significant part of Northern Syria and important cities like Kobane and Manbij from the IS. The situation paved the way for Russia that is also using the Syrian civil war to renew its presence in Western Asia. During their last meeting in Istanbul on October 10, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Erdogan agreed to normalise relations, which became tense after the Turkish forces shot down a Russian jet in November 2015. They signed an agreement to build two gas pipelines and other trade agreements which will help Russia to overcome the EU sanctions. Another reason for Turkey to insist on keeping their troops in Iraqi Kurdistan is the presence of the PKK in the Qandil mountains. Turkey's air force is constantly bombing the area behind the Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah, close to the Iranian border, where the PKK has its headquarters. Airstrikes were registered less than three days ago. The conflict between Ankara and the Kurdish Workers' Party is another phenomenon the Iraqi Prime Minister wants to eradicate from his territory, and an additional reason to ask Ankara to withdraw its troops. Al-Habadi declared at the end of September that “Iraq is not a place for the PKK and Turkey’s struggle”. Deteriorating relations between Turkey and the Iraqi central government could result in the delaying of the Mosul offensive which is a symbol of the war against Islamic State in Syria in Iraq. A highly fragmented conflict, made of wars-within-the-wars where regional powers, ethnic groups and political parties use the fight against the Islamic State as a pretext to increase their military presence and areas of influence on the ground. (WION)

Turkey's parallel war in Iraq and Syria

<p>&ldquo;Interesting question, and you might be surprised about the answer that you will receive here. I had no sympathy for Saddam Hussein, but I can&rsquo;t really say I am doing good now that he is gone. At least, when he was there, there was only one Saddam. Now every city has its own Saddam who wants to rule,&rdquo;&nbsp;Belan Shnanie tells me during a flight.</p>

<p>He worked in the UK for many years for a major oil company, and then decided to return&nbsp;to his hometown Erbil, capital city of Iraq&rsquo;s Kurdistan, to start his&nbsp;own business. &ldquo;Things are pretty slow now,&rdquo; he says.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Are we speaking about the same Saddam who persecuted all opponents on the sole base of their political and ethnical belonging for years, using torture, murder and random imprisonment?&rdquo; I ask.<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
&ldquo;Yes, we are. Look, I am Kurd and my father died because of Saddam, but I would not be honest if I say that things are better now. We have the same problems, the same inter-ethnic tensions, but less money and no one truly entitled to rule.&rdquo; &nbsp;</p>

<p>This was just the first expression of&nbsp;an idea that I found,&nbsp;not without a certain surprise,&nbsp;to be extremely common in Iraqi Kurdistan, a region known for its historical struggle for independence from the Iraqi state.</p>

<p>Kurds were&nbsp;heavily persecuted by Saddam&rsquo;s paramilitary forces during his regime, and many can&#39;t forget the massacre of Halabja in 1988, when chemical weapons&nbsp;killed more than 4,000 people. Nevertheless, an uncertain future and an unstable present risk to overcome historical memory.</p>

<p>One casual answer is never representative, so&nbsp;I decided to ask&nbsp;this very question to every&nbsp;local citizen&nbsp;I met.&nbsp;&ldquo;Do you think Saddam Hussain was a better option than the present situation?&rdquo;</p>

<p>&ldquo;Yes, of course,&rdquo; says Mahmud while driving his taxi. &ldquo;I am a school teacher. Now you tell me in which country a school teacher drives a taxi? I have to drive this car because the government did not pay my salary as a teacher for the last four months, and I have a family to feed. I eat only at dinner to save money for them.&rdquo; Mahmud&rsquo;s situation is not unique;&nbsp;he took part in&nbsp;a protest held&nbsp;on September 26 across&nbsp;Iraqi Kurdistan, where&nbsp;thousands of teachers and government employees took to the streets to claim their unpaid salaries.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&ldquo;Mahmud you look around fifty years old. You lived during Saddam Hussain as a Kurd, as a repressed minority, and still you think he was better?&rdquo;</p>

<p>&ldquo;Yes, at least he paid my salary.&rdquo;</p>

<p>As a journalist, I must specify that&nbsp;any&nbsp;number of street interactions still amounts to anecdotal evidence, and so&nbsp;cannot claim to represent the&nbsp;people&#39;s consensus.&nbsp;Entire sections of the Iraqi population&nbsp;actively fight&nbsp;for a democratic state and have no intention of going&nbsp;back to the&nbsp;previous form of government. The current president, Masoud Barzani, has been regularly voted and elected. Kurds are actively fighting the Islamic State, and its sectarian,&nbsp;violent ideals in Syria&rsquo;s Rojava and in all the countries where they have a foothold.</p>

<p>I must say though, again as a journalist, that among the great majority of the people I have been speaking to along the streets of Erbil, the most common answer has been: &ldquo;Yes, Saddam was a dictator and did bad things, but at least the economy was good and we did not have to worry about our salary.&rdquo;</p>

<p>The surprising part is that I received such an answer both by Arabs and Kurds.</p>

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<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>It reminds of&nbsp;the many neo-fascists groups active in Europe, and the increasing appeal they have on a society suffering the&nbsp;long-term&nbsp;effects from&nbsp;the&nbsp;economic crisis.</p>

<p>A society who does not trust&nbsp;its political class&nbsp;expresses&nbsp;frustrations on the&nbsp;many Facebook pages, singing the praises of the repressive and fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini for being&nbsp;an honest man who knew how to rule a country.</p>

<p>&ldquo;You have to understand that for a big part of the young Iraqi generations who have not lived under Saddam, memory does not play a role,&rdquo; says&nbsp;a young educated man&nbsp;in his twenties who asked to&nbsp;remain anonymous. &ldquo;We only know that now we have problems and we think that before there were no problems. This is true for many young Arabs, like me, who perceive&nbsp;Saddam&rsquo;s past as a period of grandeur, and his toppling only as another move made by the West to destabilise the area. Many of us think that war is not the problem, but politics is, and the politicians are all corrupt.&rdquo;</p>

<p>This is another leitmotif among the answers: politicians are all corrupt, a belief which generates a significant mistrust toward the political class. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>It is frightening where the lack of&nbsp;stability and&nbsp;secure livelihoods can lead. This nostalgia of an authoritarian, repressive and criminal regime is mainly connected to that, to the idealisation of a past which seems much better than a turbulent present. A human and totally understandable necessity of a salary, a house, food on the table directly affects&nbsp;people&#39;s political&nbsp;perception. In harsh situations - be it war, natural catastrophes or monetary crisis - liberty, freedom of thought, religion and press become secondary options which many are ready to drop in favour of&nbsp;economic stability.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This paves the way to whatever political group becomes able to provide an acceptable livelihood, to guarantee a salary and some food on your table. This is one of the aspects that make the Islamic State an acceptable form of government for entire sections of a society, a dynamic which IS knows well and uses it in its favour.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Frustration, economic difficulties, mistrust towards elected politicians and corruption have been constant elements used to achieve power by almost all the totalitarian regimes of the 20th&nbsp;century.&nbsp;</p>

<p>All together, they generate dangerous and reactionary attitudes which glorify the idea of a &ldquo;perfect past&rdquo; that in reality never existed, thus fuelling authoritarian temptations. An attitude clearly summed up by a banal and, for this&nbsp;democratic European&nbsp;writer, scary sentence, which Mahmud told me before shaking my hand outside the taxi.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t really care about democracy and freedom, I care about food for my children and a salary in my bank.&rdquo;</p>

<p>(WION)</p>


In the streets of Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan's capital, many consider Saddam Hussein's reign preferable to the uncertainty of today

“Interesting question, and you might be surprised about the answer that you will receive here. I had no sympathy for Saddam Hussein, but I can’t really say I am doing good now that he is gone. At least, when he was there, there was only one Saddam. Now every city has its own Saddam who wants to rule,” Belan Shnanie tells me during a flight. He worked in the UK for many years for a major oil company, and then decided to return to his hometown Erbil, capital city of Iraq’s Kurdistan, to start his own business. “Things are pretty slow now,” he says. “Are we speaking about the same Saddam who persecuted all opponents on the sole base of their political and ethnical belonging for years, using torture, murder and random imprisonment?” I ask. “Yes, we are. Look, I am Kurd and my father died because of Saddam, but I would not be honest if I say that things are better now. We have the same problems, the same inter-ethnic tensions, but less money and no one truly entitled to rule.” This was just the first expression of an idea that I found, not without a certain surprise, to be extremely common in Iraqi Kurdistan, a region known for its historical struggle for independence from the Iraqi state. Kurds were heavily persecuted by Saddam’s paramilitary forces during his regime, and many can't forget the massacre of Halabja in 1988, when chemical weapons killed more than 4,000 people. Nevertheless, an uncertain future and an unstable present risk to overcome historical memory. One casual answer is never representative, so I decided to ask this very question to every local citizen I met. “Do you think Saddam Hussain was a better option than the present situation?” “Yes, of course,” says Mahmud while driving his taxi. “I am a school teacher. Now you tell me in which country a school teacher drives a taxi? I have to drive this car because the government did not pay my salary as a teacher for the last four months, and I have a family to feed. I eat only at dinner to save money for them.” Mahmud’s situation is not unique; he took part in a protest held on September 26 across Iraqi Kurdistan, where thousands of teachers and government employees took to the streets to claim their unpaid salaries. “Mahmud you look around fifty years old. You lived during Saddam Hussain as a Kurd, as a repressed minority, and still you think he was better?” “Yes, at least he paid my salary.” As a journalist, I must specify that any number of street interactions still amounts to anecdotal evidence, and so cannot claim to represent the people's consensus. Entire sections of the Iraqi population actively fight for a democratic state and have no intention of going back to the previous form of government. The current president, Masoud Barzani, has been regularly voted and elected. Kurds are actively fighting the Islamic State, and its sectarian, violent ideals in Syria’s Rojava and in all the countries where they have a foothold. I must say though, again as a journalist, that among the great majority of the people I have been speaking to along the streets of Erbil, the most common answer has been: “Yes, Saddam was a dictator and did bad things, but at least the economy was good and we did not have to worry about our salary.” The surprising part is that I received such an answer both by Arabs and Kurds. I don’t really care about democracy and freedom, I care about food for my children and a salary in my bank. × It reminds of the many neo-fascists groups active in Europe, and the increasing appeal they have on a society suffering the long-term effects from the economic crisis. A society who does not trust its political class expresses frustrations on the many Facebook pages, singing the praises of the repressive and fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini for being an honest man who knew how to rule a country. “You have to understand that for a big part of the young Iraqi generations who have not lived under Saddam, memory does not play a role,” says a young educated man in his twenties who asked to remain anonymous. “We only know that now we have problems and we think that before there were no problems. This is true for many young Arabs, like me, who perceive Saddam’s past as a period of grandeur, and his toppling only as another move made by the West to destabilise the area. Many of us think that war is not the problem, but politics is, and the politicians are all corrupt.” This is another leitmotif among the answers: politicians are all corrupt, a belief which generates a significant mistrust toward the political class. It is frightening where the lack of stability and secure livelihoods can lead. This nostalgia of an authoritarian, repressive and criminal regime is mainly connected to that, to the idealisation of a past which seems much better than a turbulent present. A human and totally understandable necessity of a salary, a house, food on the table directly affects people's political perception. In harsh situations - be it war, natural catastrophes or monetary crisis - liberty, freedom of thought, religion and press become secondary options which many are ready to drop in favour of economic stability. This paves the way to whatever political group becomes able to provide an acceptable livelihood, to guarantee a salary and some food on your table. This is one of the aspects that make the Islamic State an acceptable form of government for entire sections of a society, a dynamic which IS knows well and uses it in its favour. Frustration, economic difficulties, mistrust towards elected politicians and corruption have been constant elements used to achieve power by almost all the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century. All together, they generate dangerous and reactionary attitudes which glorify the idea of a “perfect past” that in reality never existed, thus fuelling authoritarian temptations. An attitude clearly summed up by a banal and, for this democratic European writer, scary sentence, which Mahmud told me before shaking my hand outside the taxi. “I don’t really care about democracy and freedom, I care about food for my children and a salary in my bank.” (WION)

In today's Iraq, an authoritarian leader is tempting

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