In attack by al Qaeda, lines blur between Pakistan's military, militants
Wed, Oct 01 02:39 AM EDT
By Syed Raza Hassan and Katharine Houreld
KARACHI Pakistan/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Months after Owais Jakhrani was sacked from the Pakistan navy for radical Islamist views, he led an audacious mission to take over a warship and turn its guns on a U.S. naval vessel in the open seas.
The early September dawn raid at a naval base in the southern city of Karachi was thwarted, but not before Jakhrani, two officers and an unidentified fourth assailant snuck past a patrol boat in a dinghy and engaged in an intense firefight on or around the warship, PNS Zulfiqar.
Four people were killed in the attempt to hijack the Zulfiqar, including Jakhrani and two accomplices, who were serving sub-lieutenants, according to police reports seen by Reuters.
Officials are divided about how much support the young man in his mid-20s had from inside the navy. They also stress that Jakhrani and his accomplices were a long way from achieving their aim when they were killed.
But the attack, claimed by al Qaeda's newly created South Asian wing, has highlighted the threat of militant infiltration into Pakistan's nuclear-armed military.
The issue is a sensitive one for Pakistan's armed forces, which have received billions of dollars of U.S. aid since 2001 when they joined Washington's global campaign against al Qaeda.
According to an initial statement from al Qaeda, the plan was to use the Zulfiqar to attack a U.S. navy vessel, meaning potential loss of American lives and a blow to relations between the two nations.
A further statement issued by the group identified the target as USS Supply, a US naval ship used to refuel warships at sea. The Indian navy was also a target, the statement said.
It urged followers to “make jihad on the seas one of their priorities," according to the SITE intelligence group, which monitors extremist communications.
A naval spokesman said an inquiry was still ongoing when Reuters contacted the military with detailed questions about the incident. The military typically does not publish its inquiries.
"The Reuters story is not based on facts," he said. "All the facts will be ascertained once the inquiry is finalised."
Most Pakistani military officials deny infiltration is a significant problem.
Yet Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told parliament the attackers could only have breached security with inside help.
One navy official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press, said at least eight navy personnel had been arrested based on the attackers' phone records, including four aboard the Zulfiqar.
Three serving mid-level lieutenant commanders from Karachi were also arrested in the western city of Quetta, allegedly trying to flee to Afghanistan two days after the botched raid, officials said.
Further arrests were made in Karachi, Peshawar, and northwestern Pakistan, they added.
THE "MASTERMIND"
The plot's mastermind was sub-lieutenant Jakhrani, either 25 or 26 years old, whose father is a senior police officer in Karachi, officials said.
He was fired several months ago during his probationary training period, according to a senior naval officer.
"He used to ask questions about why there is no break for prayers given during the course of training sessions," the officer said. "He used to question seniors."
Earlier this year, Jakhrani traveled to Afghanistan to meet militant leaders and receive combat training, according to two officials. They said that he had told his bosses before departing that he needed to take leave to study for exams.
But Jakhrani failed his exams and alarmed colleagues with his militant views.
"We found literature and material on his person that no one can be allowed to have. His colleagues reported his views and he was then closely watched and monitored and finally dismissed," one official said.
Once he left the navy, information on his movements and plans was patchy.
Intelligence officials tipped off the navy days before the attack that a raid was imminent, according to two officials. But Jakhrani, who had an insider's knowledge of the Karachi base, did not appear to be closely monitored.
Imtiaz Gul, head of the Islamabad-based think tank the Centre for Research and Security Studies, said senior generals were aware of a long-standing weakness in surveillance of military officials dismissed for extremism.
"They don't have a tracking system for officers who are dismissed or asked to leave the service (for radical views)," said Gul. "That makes it very difficult to track if they have joined extremist groups."
Chris Rawley, vice president of the Washington D.C.-based think tank the Center for International Maritime Security, said the attack never looked likely to succeed.
But underlining one of the United States' biggest fears, he added: "The fact that maybe there are some collaborators in the navy is worrying because maybe there are collaborators among others that have purview over nuclear weapons."
Similar fears about militant infiltration and the sympathies of junior officers were raised after sophisticated attacks penetrated a Karachi naval base in 2011 and the army's headquarters in Rawalpindi in 2009.
THE ATTACK
The Karachi attack came two days after al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahri announced the formation of a new wing, al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent. The region, stretching across India to Bangladesh, is home to more than 400 million Muslims.
"The targets were the American and the Indian navies!" the group said in a statement carried by SITE intelligence group.
The statement threatened U.S. naval allies that seek to secure maritime routes and prevent the movement of militants.
It claimed that jihadi fighters had launched an attack aboard the Zulfiqar and another ship, the PNS Aslat, and had killed many naval officers. A police report that Reuters saw recorded one sailor's death on the Zulfiqar and did not mention the Aslat.
Militants have launched attacks on top Pakistani security installations before, but this plot sought to strike at the heart of the alliance between Pakistan and the United States.
At least four attackers wearing navy uniforms snuck past the patrol boat, arriving at the Zulfiqar as the dawn shift change was due, a navy official said.
A sailor on board challenged them, leading to a shootout that ended when the ship's gunner fired anti-ship guns at the attackers, according to the navy official and the police report.
"The special services group commandos arrived from their nearby base and eliminated at least one attacker who had taken position below the deck," said a naval officer who worked on the base.
"Meanwhile, reinforcements of naval commandos came from the nearby (unit) Iqbal. The commandos came in with their gadgetry of jammers and a lab which absorbed all the data being transmitted from the ship at that moment."
In total, three attackers and one sailor were killed, police reports and autopsies showed.
A policeman said he raced to the dockyard when he heard a blast, but the military told him it was part of celebrations for Pakistan Defence Day, which fell on the day of the attack.
The navy official said it was not clear what caused the blast, but it could have been either a grenade or suicide vest.
Witnesses' statements differ in some aspects to an account given by another security official, who said Jakhrani and five attackers were killed by a gunner on the ship who fired on their dinghy before they boarded.
One Pakistani security official said the threat posed by the plot to a U.S. ship in the region should not be exaggerated.
"It was not a success and trying to make it look like it was is unfair propaganda. Hijacking a navy ship isn't a joke," the official said. "We can all be alarmists if we want but this is not some Hollywood film."(Writing by Katharine Houreld; Additional reporting by Mehreen Zahra-Malik in Islamabad, Gul Yousufzai in Quetta, Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan and Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Raju Gopalakrishnan) =============== 14 Pakistanis freed from U.S. custody in Afghanistan's Bagram prison: lawyers Sat, Sep 20 14:19 PM EDT By Katharine Houreld ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Fourteen Pakistani detainees were released from U.S. custody in Bagram Prison in Afghanistan and repatriated to Pakistan on Saturday, a Pakistani legal firm representing some of the prisoners said. Justice Project Pakistan has been representing several Bagram detainees since 2010 in a bid to force the Pakistani government to bring them home. So far no information has been provided by the Pakistani authorities on the names of the released detainees or their current whereabouts, said Sarah Belal, a lawyer with Justice Project Pakistan. One of the released detainees is 29-year-old Abdul Halim Saifullah, Belal said, citing information from the Red Cross. She said he disappeared nine years ago from the southern city of Karachi after dropping his father off at a hospital and has been detained in Bagram ever since. Including the group released on Saturday, 39 Pakistanis have been released from Bagram in the past 10 months. At least one Pakistani is thought to still be in prison there, although the exact numbers are unclear since no official list has been provided since 2012. Sarah Belal, lead counsel for Justice Project Pakistan, said the government did not inform the families about the release and she feared the men may now be transferred to secret Pakistani prisons. "We still don't know about the whereabouts of the nine detainees released last month. The lack of clarity with today's tranche gives us reason to fear that they too may be held incommunicado by the Pakistani authorities," she said. (Editing by Greg Mahlich) ============= شقيق ارهابي منشق: قادة "#داعش" تقيم الملاهي الليلية و تتعاطى #المخدرات أكد خالد المطيري، شقيق الارهابي السعودي أحمد ثامر الشاطري المطيري المنشق عن جماعة "داعش" الارهابية أن السبب الرئيسي لفرار أخيه اكتشافه تعاطي قادة "داعش" المخدرات، وإقامة الملاهي الليلية، وسَبْي النساء، وقتل المسلمين. لمزيد من التفاصيل متابعة الخبر على الرابط :http://www.alghadeer.tv/news/detail/18899/ The brother of a dissident: terrorist leaders "# daash evaluates nightclubs and drug abuse # said Delaney, a brother of Saudi terrorist Ahmed thamir Al shatri MUTAIRI dissident terrorist group" daash "that the main reason for the defection of his brother discovered the abuse" leaders "drugs, daash establishment of nightclubs, and enchant the women, kill Muslims. The brother of a terrorist splinter: leaders "Daash" evaluate nightclubs and drug dealing Sunday, September 21, 2014 - 13:05 According to the online "daily life" on Sunday, said al-Mutairi revealed that his brother Ahmed, who fled from the "Daash" and turned himself in, not the vocalist for the section known as "O Asb head", but it is for his brother, the third Saad, who is still with those terrorist group. He said to me three brothers, Fahd and Ahmed Saad, all came out to fight in Syria, after the announcement of the call to fight in social networking sites, etc., and they Baltgrir them. He said al-Mutairi: "He died my elder brother Fahd at the hands of the Syrian army after a month of his arrival in Syria, and to joining Front victory," noting that his two brothers Saad and Ahmed Anhqa Front victory and joined thereafter to "Daash", and sang Saad clip (O Asb head) on the Internet. " He said that section confirms the ignorance of his brother and deceived him, and not thinking of the consequences of this section and its dimensions, noting that his brother Ahmed, "remained committed to silence and the fear of how to return and not of allegiance to Daash that do not bear the name of any impact." The Al-Mutairi that the reasons for not swear allegiance to Ahmed's "Daash" and fleeing them is watching "kill Muslims and vision to those who are being slaughtered while repeating the certificate, as well as his vision of leadership (Daash) and joined under the banner they use drugs, and staying nightclubs, and insulting women, which raised likes How to bear the name of the state Daash show that the appearance of the hardline carry out such acts. " Ended. For more details follow the news link: http://www.alghadeer.tv/news/detail/18899/ (Translated by Bing) شقيق ارهابي منشق: قادة "داعش" تقيم الملاهي الليلية و تتعاطى المخدرات الأحد 21 سبتمبر 2014 - 13:05 شقيق ارهابي منشق: قادة "داعش" تقيم الملاهي الليلية و تتعاطى المخدرات أكد خالد المطيري، شقيق الارهابي السعودي أحمد ثامر الشاطري المطيري المنشق عن جماعة "داعش" الارهابية أن السبب الرئيسي لفرار أخيه اكتشافه تعاطي قادة "داعش" المخدرات، وإقامة الملاهي الليلية، وسَبْي النساء، وقتل المسلمين. وافاد موقع "صحيفة الحياة" اليوم الاحد، ان المطيري كشف أن شقيقه أحمد، الذي فر من "داعش" وسلم نفسه، لم يكن المنشد للمقطع المعروف "يا عاصب الرأس"، وإنما هو لشقيقه الثالث سعد الذي لايزال مع تلك الجماعة الارهابية. وقال: لي 3 إخوة، فهد وسعد وأحمد، خرجوا جميعا للقتال في سوريا، بعد الاعلان عن الدعوة للقتال في مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي وغيرها، وقاموا بالتغرير بهم. وأضاف المطيري: "توفي أخي الأكبر فهد على يد الجيش السوري بعد شهر من وصوله إلى سوريا، وانضمامه إلى جبهة النصرة"، مشيرا أن شقيقيه سعد وأحمد انشقا عن جبهة النصرة وانضما بعد ذلك الى "داعش"، وانشد سعد مقطع (يا عاصب الرأس) على الإنترنت". واعتبر ان المقطع يؤكد جهل اخيه والتغرير به، وعدم تفكيره بعواقب هذا المقطع وأبعاده، مشيرا الى ان شقيقه أحمد "بقي ملتزما الصمت والخوف من كيفية العودة وعدم المبايعة لداعش التي لا تحمل من اسمها أي أثر". وأكد المطيري أن أسباب عدم مبايعة أحمد لـ "داعش" و فراره منهم هو مشاهدته"قتلهم المسلمين ورؤيته لمن يُذبح وهو يردد الشهادة، وكذلك رؤيته قيادة (داعش) والمنضمين تحت لوائه وهم يتعاطون المخدرات، ويقيمون الملاهي الليلية، ويَسْبون النساء، الأمر الذي أثار تعجبه كيف لدولة تحمل اسم لداعش وتظهر بمظهر المتشدد أن تقوم بمثل هذه الأعمال". انتهى.== ============= By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and DAN BILEFSKYSEPT. 19, 2014 Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is influential among Shiites. Credit Agence France-Presse — Getty Images BAGHDAD — Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the influential Shiite cleric, on Friday urged vigilance against Western political interference in Iraqi affairs but stopped short of opposing the American-led military campaign against the extremists of the Islamic State. “All political leaders of the country must be aware and awake to prevent the external assistance against the Islamic State from becoming an entrance to breach Iraq’s independence,” Ayatollah Sistani said. “Cooperation with the international effort shall not be taken as a pretext to impose foreign decisions on events in Iraq, especially military events.” His carefully balanced comments, in a statement read by his spokesman at Friday Prayer in the Iraqi city of Karbala, underscored the challenge facing the United States and its allies in their efforts to push back the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, without bolstering or antagonizing rival Shiite factions. U.S. Faces Tough Struggle on Ground to Oust ISISSEPT. 18, 2014 A rebel leader, Sheikh Tawfiq Shahabuddin, right, on Monday in Reyhanli, Turkey. “The international position has to be to fight all kinds of terrorism,” he said. U.S. Goal Is to Make Syrian Rebels ViableSEPT. 18, 2014 An image from a video titled “Lend Me Your Ears — Messages from the British Detainee John Cantlie,” which was posted on YouTube. New ISIS Video Features British Hostage, John Cantlie, as SpokesmanSEPT. 18, 2014 The ayatollah’s comments came shortly after the office of President François Hollande of France announced that French fighter jets had carried out their first attacks on Islamic State targets in Iraq, fulfilling his pledge a day earlier to join the international military campaign against the group. Photo A Rafale fighter at France's Al Dhafra airbase in Abu Dhabi this week. Credit Taieb Mahjoub/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images In recent days, a handful of other Iraqi Shiite leaders or militias with closer ties to Iran have made statements expressing more wariness or opposition to the American-led military efforts, and American officials have said the Iranian proxies may be seeking to remind the Western states that Tehran, too, should be taken into account. On Friday, the Iraqi cleric Moktada al-Sadr, another influential voice with ties to Iran, called for a demonstration in Baghdad on Saturday to protest a potential incursion by American ground forces. But Ayatollah Sistani, considered both independent and uniquely popular here, was more judicious. While he warned Iraqis to guard against foreign interference, he also appeared to endorse the idea that foreign help may be required to successfully engage the Sunni extremists. “Iraq may be in need of assistance from its friends and brothers to combat black terrorism,” Ayatollah Sistani said. But he insisted that for Iraq, “preserving its sovereignty and independence must be the most important thing and must be taken into consideration.” He also appealed for intersectarian solidarity in the fight against the extremists by specifically urging support for Dhuluiya, a Sunni town that has held out for months against a siege by the Sunni extremists. “Our brave Iraqi forces should help and defend Dhuluiya,” he said, “because its people are our brothers and they are the sons of our country.” Continue reading the main story Graphic How ISIS Works With oil revenues, arms and organization, the jihadist group controls vast stretches of Syria and Iraq and aspires to statehood. OPEN Graphic Elsewhere, French Rafale warplanes struck a logistics depot belonging to the Islamic State in northeastern Iraq on Friday. Mr. Hollande said in a statement, “The objective was hit and entirely destroyed.” Mr. Hollande said other operations would take place in the coming days. Remarking on the violent tactics employed by the Sunni militants, who have conquered wide areas of Iraq and Syria, Mr. Hollande said Thursday at a news conference in Paris that the group had been able to grow partly because the international community had failed to intervene. But he emphasized that France’s role would be limited to providing air support, including strikes, in Iraq. Continue reading the main story Continue reading the main story Continue reading the main story He indicated that France would not expand its mission into Syria, and French officials have made it clear that the government does not want to give the impression that it supports the Syrian government, led by President Bashar al-Assad. Continue reading the main story Graphic The Iraq-ISIS Conflict in Maps, Photos and Video A visual guide to the crisis in Iraq and Syria. OPEN Graphic France was a vociferous opponent of the American-led effort to overthrow Saddam Hussein in 2003, and analysts say the French public remains wary of sustained Western intervention in the region. Mr. Hollande, whose domestic political approval rating has hit a low of 13 percent amid persistent economic troubles, has framed the fight against Islamic State as important for French national security. In Washington, Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff, said American troop levels in Iraq could increase as Iraqi security forces and Kurdish pesh merga fighters press their fight to retake territory seized by the Islamic State. General Odierno, who served as the top American military commander in Iraq, said the 1,600 American troops who are currently on the ground in Iraq was “a good start.” He added, “I don’t think there’s a rush — a rush to have lots of people in there now.” But during a breakfast meeting with reporters, he did not rule out the possibility of sending more American military advisers to Iraq. President Obama has repeatedly said that he will not send American ground combat troops to Iraq. In northern Syria, an Islamic State offensive has driven thousands of Syrian Kurds from their homes, with many fleeing across the border into Turkey on Friday, prompting a call by an Iraqi Kurdish leader for international intervention. In recent days, extremist fighters seized villages in northern Syria, officials said, and on Friday were attacking the mainly Kurdish town of Ayn al-Arab, known as Kobani in Kurdish, on the Turkish border, news services reported. “I’d like to ask the international community to take every measure as soon as possible to save Kobani,” Massoud Barzani, president of the largely autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq, said in a statement. The militants, he said, “have to be hit and defeated wherever they are.” David D. Kirkpatrick reported from Baghdad, and Dan Bilefsky from Paris. Reporting was contributed by Kirk Semple from Erbil, Iraq, Omar al-Jawoshy from Baghdad, Maïa de la Baume from Paris, and Helene Cooper from Washington. ================================ New al Qaeda wing in South Asia claims major attack Reuters By Maria Golovnina 16 hours ago PNS Zulfiqar By Maria Golovnina ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's South Asia wing has claimed responsibility for hijacking a Pakistani naval ship and trying to use it to fire rockets at U.S. vessels in the Arabian Sea, in the first major assault by the newly created group. The SITE monitoring service quoted its spokesman, Usama Mahmoud, as saying a group of militants had succeeded in seizing control of the Pakistani frigate PNS Zulfiqar and tried to use it to attack nearby U.S. vessels. "These mujahideen had taken control of the Pakistani ship, and they were advancing towards the American fleet when the Pakistani army stopped them," he said. "As a result, the mujahideen, the lions of Allah and benefactors of the Ummah, sacrificed their lives for Allah, and the Pakistani soldiers spoiled their hereafter by giving up their lives in defense of the enemies of the Ummah the Americans." SITE said Mahmoud's statement also provided a picture and a detailed layout of the PNS Zulfiqar. .. View gallery PAKISTAN-SUDAN/ Pakistan Navy Zulfiqar-class frigate PNS Shamsheer docks at Port Sudan, in Sudan's Red Sea State, No … The navy and the army's press wing were not immediately available for comment. The naval yard on Pakistan's Arabian Sea coast is a strategically important facility at the center of U.S.-Pakistani security, anti-terrorism and anti-trafficking cooperation. The foiled attack comes at a time when regional powers are already concerned about stability as U.S.-led forces continue to withdraw from neighboring Afghanistan, potentially creating a security gap for insurgents to exploit. The attack, which lasted several hours, also shows just how much the Islamist militants are capable of striking at the heart of Pakistan's vast security apparatus and raises questions about the nuclear-armed nation's ability to guard its installations. The Pakistani Taliban, closely allied with al Qaeda, had earlier said that the Sept. 6 attack was carried out with the help of insiders. Pakistan later arrested a number of navy personnel on suspicion of collaborating with the attackers. Al Qaeda announced the formation of the new group on Sept. 4, with its chief, Ayman al-Zawahri, promising to spread Islamic rule and "raise the flag of jihad" across South Asia, home to more than 400 million Muslims. Analysts say the move is part of al Qaeda's plan to take advantage of the planned withdrawal of U.S.-led forces from Afghanistan and boost its influence in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region as well as India. It also comes against the backdrop of a full-scale operation launched by Pakistan's military against Taliban militants in the lawless region of North Waziristan following a deadly attack on the airport in the city of Karachi in June. (Editing by Nick Macfie) ====================== September 18, 2014, 7:14 AM Al Qaeda's quiet plan to outdo ISIS and hit U.S. WASHINGTON -- The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) may be dominating the headlines and stealing attention with its prolific propaganda, but CBS News' Bob Orr reports, another group in Syria -- one few have even heard of because information about it has been kept secret -- is considered a more urgent concern. Sources tell CBS News that operatives and explosives experts from Osama bin Laden's old al Qaeda network may again present an immediate threat to the U.S. homeland. CIA insider on threat posed by new Syrian terror group more dangerous than ISIS At two dozen foreign airports, U.S.-bound passengers are undergoing enhanced security screening. Agents are searching for hidden explosives. Laptops and phones with dead batteries have been banned from flights. Great Britain raised its national terror threat level, and the FBI is tracking American jihadists who may return home. Sources say it's due to the emerging threat in Syria, where hardened terrorists loyal to al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri are working on new, hard-to-detect bombs. In testimony Wednesday, the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Matt Olsen -- who warned that U.S. agencies are unable to effectively track Western jihadists inside Syria -- seemed to make a vague reference to the threat. "In Syria, we've seen veteran al Qaeda fighters travel from Pakistan to take advantage of the permissive environment there," said Olsen. Sources confirm that the al Qaeda cell goes by the name "Khorasan." Unlike ISIS, which is believed at present to be largely engulfed in its fight for territory. Khorasan is developing fresh plots to target U.S. aviation, and it's trying to recruit Westerners who have flocked to the fight in Syria, some of whom have joined the al Qaeda franchise in the country, known as the al-Nusra Front. The fear is that U.S. and European passport holders could more easily smuggle explosives onto airplanes. Asked if there was anything about the threat he could reveal to lawmakers during the public testimony on Capitol Hill, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said discussions about "specific organizations... should be left to a classified setting." Play Video Al Qaeda chief bomb maker alive: Yemen official Sources tell CBS News the group includes technicians trained by al Qaeda's master bomb-builder, Ibrahim al-Asiri. The Yemen-based Asiri built the infamous but ultimately unsuccessful underwear bombs and two cargo bombs concealed in printer cartridges. He is considered one of the most innovative bomb-builders in the jihadist world, and he's still operating freely -- at least for now. CIA chief John Brennan recently told Orr that U.S. officials were "doing what we can" to track Asiri down, and predicted that his "time will come." At the moment, U.S. officials say there is no specific, credible threat to the homeland. But as information about Khorasan becomes available, it's clear that al Qaeda remains obsessed with bombs, airplanes, and attacking the United States. ================================== Iraqi soldiers describe heavy losses as Islamic State overruns camp . Reuters By Ahmed Rasheed and Saif Sameer Hameed 1. Group: Islamic militants killed 770 Iraqi troops Associated Press 2. Survivors demand justice after Iraq massacre Reuters 3. Clashes Between Iraqi Soldiers And Islamic State Leave Dozens Dead And Missing Huffington Post 4. U.S. air strikes target insurgents near Iraq's Haditha Dam Reuters 5. Islamic State militants kill 40 Iraqi troops Associated Press BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi soldiers described on Monday how Islamic State fighters inflicted heavy losses in a chaotic raid on a military base just an hour's drive from Baghdad, highlighting the jihadists' ability to attack high-profile targets despite U.S. air strikes. Soldiers, officials and tribal sources gave differing accounts of what happened on Sunday when the militants stormed the camp at Saqlawiya that they had been besieging. However, casualties among the Iraqi government forces appear to have been very heavy, with many soldiers either dead, forced to flee or missing following the assault near the city of Falluja, which Islamic State has controlled since January. A statement for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office said he had issued orders to detain two commanders for "negligence" in the incidents 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, while some troops who escaped accused the military leadership of failing to help them during the siege. Islamic State fighters seized large areas of northern and western Iraq in a summer offensive, drawing accusations of extreme brutality and prompting the U.S. air attacks after they advanced on an autonomous Kurdish region. Their raid at Saqlawiya is the latest since the northern city of Mosul fell to Islamic State in June to exposes the Iraqi military's shortcomings. It followed a massacre of an army detachment at Camp Speicher in the same month, in which military recruits were led off the base unarmed and murdered in their hundreds. Like at Camp Speicher, it remains unclear how many men were present at the base in Saqlawiya and how many are now dead and missing. However one officer who survived the raid said that of an estimated 1,000 soldiers in Saqlawiya, only about 200 had managed to flee. "This failure is not the fault of the soldiers ... the mistake was that of the military leadership, they failed," said the officer, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue. The officer said that Islamic State insurgents had gained control of Sijir, near Falluja, a week ago, allowing them to surround the Saqlawiya base. "We were without ammunition and without food. Every time we contacted military commanders, they promised to send helicopters to air drop reinforcements but nothing happened," said the officer, who fled to another base close to Falluja on Sunday. "We ... were drinking salty well water and eating canned tomato paste." The government statement quoted the spokesman of the armed forces general command as saying that orders had been issued four days ago for supplies and military reinforcements to be sent to Saqlawiya and Sijir, in addition to intensifying overflights. On Wednesday, the insurgents sent a Humvee vehicle rigged with explosives into the camp. Guards mistakenly assumed that an army driver was at the wheel. "When it exploded, it caused a lot of confusion. Islamic State exploited that and entered the camp. Now most of regiment headquarters within the base are under the control of Islamic State," said the officer, adding that one, small army unit remained besieged in the camp. "KILOMETER OF DEATH" About 200 soldiers managed to escape the base on Sunday after battling with the militants in the area which soldiers call the "kilometer of death". "On the road, the images were tragic. Burnt Humvees and burnt corpses of soldiers are still on the streets," said the officer who retreated to the nearby Camp Tareq. One soldier, identified as a Saqlawiya camp survivor, recounted his testimony in a video that was shown on Iraqi state television and widely circulated online. Reuters could not immediately verify its authenticity. The survivor referred to the militants sending in a booby-trapped vehicle, appearing to corroborate the testimony of the first army officer. He also mentioned the lack of food and ammunition at Saqlawiya. "Those who ran, got away and those who stayed were left behind. We left in three transport vehicles and two gas tankers and headed for Sijir," he said, adding that they found Islamic State insurgents waiting for them there too. "Again we got injured by an RPG (rocket propelled grenade) and there were those who got killed by gunfire and those who fled amid the tall grass and orchards," said the survivor, whose name was not disclosed, and who was shirtless and wearing his trouser fatigues. He said that "200 or less" soldiers managed to escape. "The bodies of slaughtered soldiers are left in Sijir and Saqlawiya on the main roads and near the factory," he said. NO ANSWERS An intelligence officer who is in charge of an area of operations that includes Saqlawiya said insurgents gained control of Sijir area last week and "the army was forced to retreat .. in the farms between Saqlawiya and Falluja". An army convoy sent in to break the siege on Sunday was ambushed by Islamic State fighters. Many soldiers were killed, others were taken prisoners and a few managed to flee, he told Reuters. The Defense Ministry said in a statement late on Sunday that it had "lost communication" with some soldiers in Sijir and Saqlawiya. At a parliamentary session on Monday at least two lawmakers asked for clarification surrounding the attacks in Saqlawiya, but did not receive any answers from officials. (Additional reporting by Raheem Salman; Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by Ned Parker and David Stamp) ================
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