Dheyaa Alwakeel
Diaa Al-Wakil / Advisor and former spokesman of the Armed Forces (26 April 2015 at 1330 hours)
What happened in Al-Taqsim regulator Tharthar at the evening of Friday and morning of Saturday 24th and 25th of this April, from the fall of the military unit responsible for protecting the regulator and martyrdom of those who belonged to it, and the barbaric execution of the remaining captives… plus the martyrdom of the Commander of the 1st Division (immediate intervention) and Brig. Gen. Hassan Abas Tufan , in addition to the Brigade Commander and a number of officers and soldiers may Allah rest all of their souls. This serious event raises several important questions that need satisfying answers. And despite there being little to no information available, and the investigation procedures haven’t even started yet, we will search and analyze in the manner of which the division commander has martyred and the most probable possibilities in the incident are:
Through our monitoring of what the enemy is broadcasting through their media, and with an analytic inspecting view, we found a video and a picture of the martyr Commander of the 1st Division that illustrates a shot with a bullet to the head and from a very close distance according to the severe trauma appearing on the head and face and at first glance, you can tell the wound has been inflected from the back, and I don’t think it was the sniper though it is a possibility, because the martyr Colonel Helal had a similar injury. And the most probable scenario is that he fell into a tight ambush that he was lured into at the site of the surrounding force and that he fought with his soldiers who seemed to have been facing heavy fire as reflected through the level of destruction of the armored equipment and machinery. And the division commander martyred with a shot to the head which is a common execution method by ISIS, and this witness-less theory raises important questions:
The division commander’s movements are supposed to be very discreet and secretive, while surrounded with the maximum sufficient security force, so was that the case?
The movement of the commander column and the escorting force, in light of the ongoing military movements and oppositions, needs Air Force cover, was that provided??
The Commander’s movement is usually escorted by a tight communications security with the operation headquarter, the back seat, and the close-by units to address any hostile situation or potential exposure … what was the level of communication security, follow-up, and control??
When the communications were lost with the martyr Commander and his targeted unit, what were the implemented procedures by the division commanders of troops and operations?
The declarations of the leader of The Anbar operations on the day following the incident about the holding of an attack to retrieve Tharthar regulator doesn’t fall within regulations and are considerably nothing but a late reaction to an aggressive dangerous action!!
No one knew about the martyrdom of the division commander and his officers and soldiers and the fall of their site until after ISIS’s terrorizing declaration, publishing videos and photos throughout their website over the internet, and spreading the news through satellite TV which left a possible space for rumors and interpretation, and that is no more but slackness and laziness on the national media and security’s performances…
We believe that the Commander’s movement and the escorting protection force were targeted and most likely unaccompanied by an air strike force, or else the outcome would have been completely different…
And the information point towards the loss of communication with his ranks on Friday evening, and despite the criticality of such a situation, no quick reactions or measures to rescue him were taken or published …
And it might be early to guess whether the division commander coordinated with the coalition forces in regards to air support and monitor duties, and if the standard helicopter aircraft from the national air force had escorted him during the performing of his duties of checking on the sectors. This needs explanations from the concerned authority.
What mostly would catch your eyes as an inspector and analyzer to the situation, is the burning of some armored personnel carriers and vehicles along with being scattered over far distances from the site of the attacked military unit, and the high level of destruction raises the possibility of their exposure to “an Air Strike” and I am saying that this is a possibility that requires a check on its validity.
What happened brings back to the memory the story of the martyrdom of the Maj. Gen. Najem Al-Sudani, commander of the 6th division – may Allah rest his soul – at the boarders of Al-Karma city last year, and what is worth pointing to at that incident is that the vehicle of the 6th division’s commander was attacked by an unexpected hostile missile and it wasn’t clear if it was an air or a ground level attack, and what raises suspicions is that the commander’s vehicle was the only one that was hit among more than ten other vehicles and the hit was so direct and precise that it led to the martyrdom of the commander immediately…
The martyr hero Maj. Gen. Najem Al-Sudani – may Allah rest his soul – the previous commander of the 6th division.
Some of the declarations by the leader of Al-Anbar missions were hasty in speaking about a exploding of a bombed armored tanker which led to the martyrdom of the 1st division commander, and that is inaccurate and clearly wrong based on the extensive trauma in his head… He also spoke of ISIS terrorists positioning themselves on the high sand dunes of Al-Taqsim regulator and that headquarters will implement a military mission to free the site… In the same context the Ministry of Defense released a statement about the exposure of the martyr commander to a bombed container and that is a clear contradiction revealing the absence of coordination between the operations leadership and the ministry in the media which is considered to be the even more dangerous war front…
And here I am here not suggesting a conspiracy theory but I am also not excluding it as the USA has objected on the priority of liberating Al-Anbar and sees that Al-Mosul must be the next step after Tikrit, and the conflict over al-Anbar have moved into public circles among the US administration poles (Statement by John McCain, Chairman of the Armed Forces Committee and statements by General Martin Dempsey, Chief of Staff of the American Armed Forces) and we have talked about that in a previous article, plus the US objection on the participation of the PMF in the missions of liberating the capital. What they require is that Al-Anbar stays an area of tension and instability and witnesses hit-and-run- attacks and that its file remain urgent on political and security levels, and we will have a stand on that topic later…
The martyrdom of the 1st division commander with a number of his officers and soldiers regardless of the reasons that will be exposed soon, reflects an image worthy of praise and admiration, as the division commander fully knew the level of the risks he will face during checking on his units but he preferred to be among his soldiers while facing the ISIS attack even if that led to his martyrdom which is what happened, and that image completely contradicts what happened in the relapse of Mosul…
This is the self-sacrificing honorable Iraqi army which expresses the values of the heroic Iraqi soldiers who wouldn’t hesitate give their pure lives and brave souls for their country and its wellbeing.
Important note: to keep up with the event, face its risks, and address the counter psychological war… I have seen the press conferences and official statements issued in this matter and to settle the argument, respond to the rumors, and deny what happened in Tharthar Taqsim regulator of false information, the concerned authorities need to take the satellite channels to the incident site and broadcast direct messages and interviews with the warriors of the battle field, as that is stronger and more honest and direct than conferences, telephone calls, and meetings on satellite channels… This is the dangerous war of media and the performance level should be on the same level of the overwhelming challenge facing Iraq and its army and people…
