Friday, January 30, 2015

Islamic State Launches Surprise Attack On The Northern Iraqi City Of Kirkuk



Reuters: Islamic State attacks Kurdish outposts across Iraq

WNU Editor: The reason why ISIS wants Kirkuk is explained here.

More News On The Islamic State Launching A Surprise Attack On The Northern Iraqi City Of Kirkuk

ISIS Launches Surprise Attack on Kirkuk, Killing Top Kurdish Commander -- New York Times
Battle with IS kills senior Kurdish general, 8 of his troops -- Washington Post/AP
Islamic State launches surprise attack on oil-rich Kirkuk -- UPI
ISIS launches attack on oil-rich northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk -- CNN
Top Kurdish Commander Killed as Islamic State Launches Surprise Offensive on Kirkuk -- Vice News
ISIL militants attack Kurdish forces near Kirkuk -- Euronews
Top Kurdish Commander Killed in Major IS Attack on Iraqi Oil-Producing City -- Sputnik
Islamic State Militants Launch Offensive Outside Kurdish-Controlled Kirkuk -- WSJ
Iraqi cities rocked by deadly attacks -- Al Jazeera
Iraq's Kirkuk has curfew imposed amid fierce fighting -- BBC

4 comments:

James said...

Maybe the Kobane celebration was a little premature.

Jay Farquharson said...

James,

In all the triumphalist news stories on the Liberation of Kobane, there was that little pesky footnote that ISIS still controlled 10% of the town.

James said...

Jay,
Delusions, wishes, and dreams with a core of foolish cynicism have been the touchstone of policy for the West for at least 25 yrs now, but especially in the last 5. Until this changes the West will lose. This is one reason (among many) I'm not that interested in the numbers that much, not that you and others here are wrong, quite the contrary you all are usually very correct, but I feel it's somewhat irrelevant in that the West is losing the strategic contest badly and publicly and they seem to be the only ones blind to that. Now there can be many arguments pro and con about why this is, but that it is in my opinion can't be argued. Since I've had my pointy smart guy hat on for so much it's time for music friday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJkmHQ2q--I

CatholicDragoon said...

I just had the thought that if I was the Iraqi leadership I would want Kirkuk to fall to IS. So that hopefully the army and Shia militias can take it later on so as to avoid any pesky problems with the Kurds later on.