IS Has Iraqi Towns In Lockdown As Battles Rage

Kurdish forces are struggling to defend themselves against Islamic State (IS) militants in northeast Iraq and are appealing for more international help.

There has been fighting around towns including Jalula and Sa'dya, which have been controlled by the well-armed Sunni extremists for several weeks.

The IS insurgents have seized large swathes of the country since a June offensive but have been hit by US airstrikes in some areas including around Mosul Dam.

However, Sky's Chief Correspondent Stuart Ramsay, reporting from outside Jalula, north of Baghdad, said the Kurdish peshmerga fighters want more weaponry from the outside world and are "getting little or no air support".

Thousands of peshmerga and counter-terrorism soldiers have been deployed, including many around the town.

Sky's Stuart Ramsay outside the town of Jalula

He said the Kurds have some heavy weapons but the equipment is old, while the jihadists "have modern equipment and lots of money".

Ramsay said the two sides are fighting to control territory not the towns themselves as IS have them "under total lockdown".

The Kurds are trying to cut their supply lines and one fighter told Sky News: "We need weapons to make the battle equal."

Ramsay said: "Peshmerga front-line positions are regularly hit from far away. There are scorch marks and burning patches everywhere."

Roadside bombs laid by the extremists are also "causing more casualties than ever before," he added.

Meanwhile, eight people have been killed after a suicide bomber blew up a vehicle packed with explosives at the interior ministry's intelligence headquarters in Baghdad.

PM designate Haider al Abadi is trying to form a more inclusive government

It comes a day after a sectarian attack at a mosque killed at least 68 Sunni Muslims, plunging efforts to form a united front against the jihadists into crisis.

Officials say a suicide bomber blew himself up in the Imam Wais mosque north of Baghdad, with Shia militiamen picking off fleeing worshippers with machine guns.

Diyala has seen heavy fighting between Iraqi troops and IS. File pic

Attacks on mosques are acutely sensitive and have in the past unleashed a deadly series of revenge killings and counter attacks in Iraq.

The attack, in Diyala province, is seen as a blow to government efforts to secure backing from Sunni groups in its battle against the extremists.

The US says the killing of James Foley was a "terrorist attack" on America

Prime Minister designate Haider al Abadi, a moderate Shia, is attempting to form a more inclusive government following the resignation of outgoing PM Nouri al Maliki.

But two influential Sunni politicians - Parliamentary Speaker Salim al Jabouri and Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al Mutlak - have now pulled out of talks with the main Shia political alliance after the massacre.

The US, which is carrying out airstrikes against militants, has ramped up its rhetoric over the beheading of journalist James Foley.

In Washington, Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes said the murder "represents a terrorist attack against our country".

He said the US would not be restricted by the Iraq-Syria border when it considers further action against IS militants.

Having poured in from Syria across a desert border that it does not recognise, the Islamist movement has declared its own caliphate.

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US 'Ready To Take Action Against IS In Syria'

The US has said it will not be restricted by the Iraq-Syria border as it considers further action against Islamic State militants.

White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes the US stood ready to take action to protect American citizens as the group was more dangerous now than it was six months ago.

The US has already carried out airstrikes on the group - formerly known as ISIS or ISIL - in Iraq as it has sought to support government forces and Kurdish Peshmerga in their attempts to push back the jihadists.

However, it has so far steered clear of Syria, except for a brief special forces raid which attempted to rescue journalist James Foley and other American hostages.

Red shows areas controlled by IS, while yellow is areas of fighting

Mr Foley was beheaded by a member of the group - believed to be British - in a video released earlier this week. The black-clad militant said the journalist was killed in retaliation for US airstrikes.

"When you see somebody killed in such a horrific way, that represents a terrorist attack- that represents a terrorist attack against our country and against an American citizen," Mr Rhodes told reporters at the White House

He added that the US had done everything it could to rescue American hostages but would keep trying to get back those still held by the group.

The announcement that the US would consider acting in Syria came after the former head of the British Army said the West should consider negotiating with Syrian president Bashar al Assad to tackle IS.

Lord Dannatt told Sky News: "You have to at least consider the otherwise unpalatable thought that maybe we've got to have some kind of dialogue, whether it's under the counter or over the counter, with President Assad of Syria.

Journalist James Foley was beheaded on video by an IS militant

"The old dictum that my enemy's enemy is my friend just might have some credence in this less than satisfactory and pretty extraordinary set of times that we are in."

However, UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond ruled out working with Mr Assad - who is accused of carrying out war crimes, including chemical attacks, during his country's three-year civil war.

He said Britain would help Kurdish and Iraqi forces with weapons and training once there was a credible government in place in Baghdad.

However, efforts to form a new government around Prime Minister-designate Haider al Abadi were dealt a major blow when Sunni politicians pulled out of talks following an attack on a mosque that killed at least 64 people and injured 60 others.

The mass killing at Friday prayers was initially blamed on Shia militia allied with the government but there have also been suggestions that IS fighters, who have been trying to recruit Sunni tribes in the area, could have staged the attack.

Kurdish Peshmerga are leading the fightback against IS in Iraq

Elsewhere, Kurdish forces have launched a major assault to try to retake the northeast Iraqi towns of Jalula and Sadiyah.

Sky's Alex Crawford, reporting from the outskirts of Jalula, said the operation was being carried out by the Kurdish military's elite counter-terrorism unit, backed up by peshmerga forces.

She said the towns, near the Iranian border and semi-autonomous Kurdish region, had been under IS control for more than two months.

"What is significant about this assault is that they (the Kurds) are doing this pretty much entirely on their own," she said.

"They've had very little air support. There is no evidence of any outside weaponry, military hardware to back them up."

Although US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has warned that IS is the most dangerous threat faced by America for years, the FBI on Friday said there were no specific or credible threats that the group was planning an attack on US soil.

An intelligence bulletin, issued to state and local law enforcement, said officials were concerned though that IS supporters could attack overseas targets with little warning.

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Russia Aid Trucks 'Took Ukraine Military Goods'

A Ukrainian army spokesman has accused Russia of using aid trucks to take production equipment from two military plants.

A convoy of about 200 vehicles entered the country on Friday without the permission of the Ukraine government - and left on Saturday after dropping its cargo.

However, military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said the trucks had taken equipment from a factory in Luhansk that makes firearm magazines and a Topaz plant that produces radars.

The convoy's departure comes as German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in Kiev for talks with Ukraine's pro-Western leaders on the ongoing conflict.

Russian aid trucks pictured upon their return to the border crossing

It had been agreed the lorries - which had waited on the Russian side of the border for a week - would only be allowed into eastern Ukraine if they were escorted by the International Red Cross.

However, the charity pulled out after not receiving enough security guarantees as fighting continues to rage.

Kiev's foreign ministry informally allowed the convoy to pass to avoid "provocations".

Russia previously let journalists look inside a handful of the lorries, which it said were carrying 1,800 tonnes of aid including food, water, medicine and electrical generators.

This was questioned by Nato's top military commander, Philip Breedlove, who claimed the trucks looked like a disguised attempt to reinforce separatist forces. Russia denies backing the rebels.

Ms Merkel will hold talks with Mr Poroshenko

The UN Security Council discussed the convoy on Friday and no country came to Russia's defence, according to British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant.

Members called it an "illegal and unilateral" action.

Following a phone call, US President Barack Obama and Ms Merkel condemned the act.

They also expressed concern that the large numbers of Russian troops on the Ukraine border and fighting in eastern parts of the country represented a "dangerous escalation".

Ms Merkel will hold talks with Ukraine's pro-European President Petro Poroshenko, three days before he meets Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and top EU officials.

A Ukrainian rebel controls an area after a shelling in Donetsk

The German leader is expected to call for a ceasefire while trying to consolidate Ukraine's relationship with the EU.

Mr Poroshenko has pledged to "talk peace" with the Russian President but insists the conflict - which has claimed more than 2,200 lives - will end only when pro-Kremlin fighters leave.

Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to pound rebel strongholds such as Luhansk and Donetsk, where water has been cut off and supplies are dwindling.

At least two civilians were killed by shelling on Saturday.

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Final Email From James Foley's Killers Revealed

IS Demanded Release Of Woman In Texas Jail

Updated: 11:34am UK, Friday 22 August 2014

One of the demands made by kidnappers who killed US journalist James Foley was the release of a woman once named among America's seven most wanted terrorists.

In the final email the Islamic State militant group sent to Mr Foley's parents, the jihadists claimed they offered prisoner exchanges for the journalist's freedom. The one name mentioned in the email was that of Dr Aafia Siddiqui.

The US-educated, Pakistani-born scientist was arrested in the street in Afghanistan's Ghanzi province in 2008.

When local police searched her handbag they found she was carrying handwritten documents referring to a "mass casualty attack" as well as a toxic substance called sodium cyanide, US prosecutors said.

The mother of three's notes listed locations such as the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street and the Brooklyn Bridge, according to the FBI.

There was also information on how to create a dirty bomb, destroy reconnaissance drones and use underwater bombs, and excerpts from the book "Anarchist's Arsenal", according to US prosecutors.

Upon her arrest, Siddiqui was taken by local police to a compound but, left unsecured behind a curtain, she managed to grab an M4 rifle and fire at the US team who had come to interview her, yelling "death to America", her trial heard.

She did not hit anyone, but Siddiqui herself was shot.

The 42-year-old was flown to the US and following her two-week trial in 2010, she was sentenced to 86 years in a Texas jail for trying to kill American servicemen.

No terrorism charges were filed, but prosecutors painted her as a potentially dangerous terrorist.

Siddiqui's lawyers - three of whom were paid by the Pakistani government - argued she had shot at the US officials in a panic and she was mentally ill.

She appeared in a wheelchair, looking frail, and frequently disrupted the proceedings with outbursts at her own lawyers, the jury and witnesses.

Dubbed "al Qaeda Mom" and "Lady Qaeda" by US tabloids, Siddiqui was born in Karachi, Pakistan, but moved to America in the late 1980s or early 1990s.

She trained as a neuroscientist at prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University.

US authorities claim she returned to Pakistan in 2003 after marrying a relative of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.

But her disappearance for the next five years is unexplained and has caught the attention of human rights groups.

One theory is that she was detained by America after being named by Mohammed during interrogation. Her lawyers had claimed she had been held in secret US detention.

However, in 2004 US attorney general John Ashcroft listed her among the seven most wanted al Qaeda fugitives.

Her eventual detention, trial and sentencing prompted mass protests across Pakistan.

Activists poured on to the streets shouting "death to America" and burning effigies of President Barack Obama when she was sentenced.

Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan led one rally in Lahore, condemning her jailing as "unethical and inhuman".

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Major Operation To Retake IS-Held Towns In Iraq

Kurdish forces have started a major assault to try to retake the northeast Iraqi towns of Jalula and Sa'dya from Islamic State (IS) militants.

It comes as US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the threat posed by IS extremists, who have seized control of large parts of Syria and Iraq, was "beyond anything we've seen".

The group, which beheaded American journalist James Foley in response to US airstrikes in Iraq, was "beyond just a terrorist group", Mr Hagel said.

A Kurdish peshmerga fighter

"They marry ideology, a sophistication of … military prowess," he added.

Sky's Alex Crawford, reporting from the outskirts of Jalula, said the operation was being carried out by the Kurdish military's elite counter-terrorism unit, backed up by peshmerga forces.

James Foley in Libya in 2011

She said the towns, near the Iranian border and the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, had been under the control of IS insurgents for more than two months.

The Kurdish forces have already taken back a major checkpoint, which the Sunni militants had controlled.

Alex Crawford said: "What is significant about this assault is that they (the Kurds) are doing this pretty much entirely on their own.

"They've had very little air support. There is no evidence of any outside weaponry, military hardware to back them up."

A rough outline of the caliphate declared by IS militants

Meanwhile, US airstrikes in Syria - where Mr Foley disappeared in November 2012 - have not been ruled out.

When asked about that possibility, Mr Hagel said Washington was "exploring all options".

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, also did not discount attacks on IS fighters in Syria.

Militants vowed to attack US targets in another video clip

"This is an organisation that has an apocalyptic, end-of-days strategic vision and which will eventually have to be defeated," he said at a briefing.

"To your question, can they be defeated without addressing that part of their organisation which resides in Syria? The answer is no.

"That will have to be addressed on both sides of what is essentially at this point a non-existent border."

The fighter who killed James Foley

IS, which was formerly known as ISIS, declared an Islamic state, or caliphate, covering large parts of the two countries earlier this year.

Michael Scheuer, a former CIA senior officer who ran operations against al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, has told Sky News defeating IS will require an "enormous" number of Western troops on the ground which would mean an "enormous bloodbath".

He said: "It's a greatly bigger problem than we've seen before, it's better armed, it's better led and certainly more vicious than al Qaeda was in the initial years."

US President Barack Obama has insisted the scope of the US strikes will remain limited, while Prime Minister David Cameron has said Britain will not fight another war in Iraq.

A criminal investigation has now been opened into Mr Foley's murder, which was recorded by the militants in a video that emerged earlier this week.

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Russia Trucks Enter Ukraine In 'Direct Invasion'

Ukraine has claimed 90 trucks from a Russian aid convoy have crossed into the country without permission in a "direct invasion".

It had been agreed the lorries would only be allowed into eastern Ukraine if they were escorted by the International Red Cross.

But the charity has pulled out after not receiving enough security guarantees as fighting continues to rage.

Ukraine insisted the aid convoy entered under the auspices of the Red Cross

Kiev's foreign ministry said it had informally allowed the convoy to pass to avoid "provocations" and state security chief Valentyn Nalivaychenko said his country will not use force against it.

But he also said: "We consider this a direct invasion by Russia of Ukraine. Under the cynical guise of the Red Cross these are military vehicles."

President Poroshenko is due to meet Russia's leader next week

The vehicles are carrying water, generators and sleeping bags reportedly intended to help civilians in the city of Luhansk, where pro-Russian separatist fighters are besieged by Ukrainian government forces.

The trucks, among a 280-lorry convoy, had been held at a border crossing for a week amid suspicions by Kiev that the mission was being used as a cover for an invasion by Moscow.

But dozens of the Russian vehicles have now moved into the east of the country despite both sides in the months-long conflict ignoring pleas for a ceasefire.

Ukraine said it captured two Russian armoured vehicles

"They passed into Ukraine without clearance or participation of the International Red Cross or (Ukrainian) border guards," said military spokesman Andriy Lysenko.

Ukraine has been reluctant to let the convoy through over fears it is carrying supplies for the rebels, despite Moscow's insistence the goods were simply humanitarian aid.

The transit comes as the Ukrainian president said he would tell Russia's Vladimir Putin to rein in pro-Moscow separatists, when the two leaders meet next week.

Sources said Germany's Angela Merkel would push for a ceasefire

Petro Poroshenko said he would tell President Putin that Ukraine had "a strong country, a strong army" behind him.

He said: "In order to have solid positions in peace negotiations, we have to be strong, to have the unity of the people, a strong country, a strong army."

The 280-truck convoy departed from near Moscow more than seven days ago

"We are capable of defending our sovereignty, our independence and our territorial integrity - we are fighting for the independence of Ukraine. Together we will win for sure."

Mr Poroshenko spoke as government forces, despite taking heavy losses themselves, thrust deeper into rebel-held eastern territory, putting pressure on separatists.

After a faltering start in April, government forces' success has alarmed some Western leaders who believe Mr Putin is being boxed in a corner.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is scheduled to visit Kiev on Saturday in support for Mr Poroshenko, however diplomatic sources said she will also push Ukraine for a ceasefire to prevent a Putin backlash.

Fierce fighting has continued in the East, with 16 Ukrainian special forces troops killed in fighting on Wednesday night in the town of Ilovaisk, near Donetsk.

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Gaza Airstrike Kills Senior Hamas Commanders

Three senior Hamas military commanders have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian group said.

It has named the men as Mohammed Abu Shammala, Raed al Attar and Mohammed Barhoum, saying they died along with three other people overnight.

The commanders were all killed in the bombing of a house in the southern town of Rafah, one of 20 airstrikes the Israeli military said it carried out after midnight local time on Wednesday.

Israel's security agency Shin Bet confirmed the deaths of Mr Shamaleh and Mr al Attar in an email to Associated Press, but made no mention of Mr Barhoum.

The aftermath of the airstrike that failed to kill Mohammed Deif

Palestinian health official Ashraf al Kidra said "dozens" of people were still missing, believed to be trapped in the rubble of the four-storey building hit in the Rafah airstrike.

Emergency services spokesman said four Palestinians attending a funeral in northern Gaza City were also killed when an airstrike hit a graveyard in northern Gaza City.

The Hamas deaths came after Israel apparently unsuccessfully targeted Hamas's top military commander, Mohammed Deif, on Tuesday. Instead, his wife and seven-month-old son were killed.

Palestinian officials say more than 2,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed since Israel began its latest offensive in response to rocket attacks from Gaza.

Smoke billows from Gaza following an airstrike

Israel says hundreds of the dead were Palestinian militants. Sixty-four Israeli soldiers and three civilians in Israel have been killed.

Egyptian-mediated talks to end the weeks of fierce fighting in Gaza collapsed on Tuesday when violence broke out after 10 days of relative calm.

Israel said the latest airstrikes were in response to a resumption of Hamas rocket fire on Tuesday - adding that only one rocket launch had been registered since midnight, compared to more than 210 over the previous 30 hours.

In a TV address on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed little willingness to return to the negotiating table with Hamas.

"We are determined to continue the campaign with all means and as is needed," he said.

"We will not stop until we guarantee full security and quiet for the residents of the south and all citizens of Israel."

 

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Clashes As Liberia Slum Sealed Off To Curb Ebola

Liberian security forces have clashed with desperate protesters after using scrap wood and barbed wire to seal off a sprawling slum to prevent ebola from spreading.

Hundreds of angry protesters took to the streets on Wednesday to confront riot police and soldiers who reportedly fired live rounds and tear gas to disperse the stone-throwing crowd.

Residents vented their fury at the government for isolating their West Point neighbourhood in the Liberian capital Monrovia and said they were given no warning of the blockade which has prevented some 50,000 people from getting to work or buying food.

"I don't have any food and we're scared," said Alpha Barry, a resident with four children under the age of 13.

Liberia's ebola task force enforcing the quarantine

The coastguard was also in action, patrolling sewage-strewn waters offshore to ensure no one fled the area by sea.

And there was further fury when relatives of Miata Flowers, the local government representative, were escorted away from the slum by security forces.

Around four people were injured in the clashes which erupted as the World Health Organisation (WHO) raised the total death toll from the ebola epidemic to 1,350 - and warned the disease was spreading fastest in Liberia, where at least 576 people have died.

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf ordered a nationwide curfew - and the West Point barricades - insisting the country had been unable to control the spread of ebola.

Relatives of Miata Flowers run to an awaiting car to be taken from the slum

She blamed the rising death toll on denial, defiance of authorities and cultural burial practices.

However, residents have accused the government of being slow to remove dumped infected bodies from the streets, some of which have been left for hours and days.

On Tuesday, protesters broke into an isolation clinic housing 29 patients in West Point - 17 of whom fled and were later found.

WHO officials have warned that measures to restrict travel in heavily infected areas, including quarantines of whole villages and counties, are limiting access to food and medical supplies in many cases.

West Point is one of the capital's poorest and most densely populated neighbourhoods, with poor sanitation and overcrowding.

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US Doctor Infected With Ebola Leaving Hospital

US doctor Kent Brantly, who was infected with ebola while working in Liberia, has recovered from the disease.

Franklin Graham, president of the Samaritan's Purse charity, confirmed Dr Brantly was now well enough to leave hospital.

"Today I join all of our Samaritan's Purse team around the world in giving thanks to God as we celebrate Dr Kent Brantly's recovery from ebola and release from the hospital," he said

The charity added that Dr Brantly was treated with the experimental drug ZMapp.

He is expected to leave the Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, where he has been receiving treatment.

Dr Brantly and fellow aid worker Nancy Writebol were flown out of the West African nation of Liberia earlier this month after contracting the disease.

They have been receiving treatment for the deadly disease in an isolation unit at the hospital.

Dr Brantly and Nancy Writebol contracted the disease in Liberia

They were both infected while working at a missionary clinic outside Monrovia.

Earlier this month, Dr Brantly insisted the only available dose of an experimental serum went to Ms Writebol.

It comes as World Health Organisation (WHO) officials visit two hospitals in Liberia on Thursday where authorities have sealed off entire neighbourhoods to try and stop the spread of the disease.

A nationwide curfew was brought in after clashes between protesters and security forces in the West Point area of Monrovia, which residents have been prevented from leaving.

The ebola outbreak has killed at least 1,350 people across Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria in western Africa.

It is only spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of those infected with the virus who are experiencing symptoms.

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Exclusive: US Recruits Iraq Security 'Advisers'

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor, and Pete Norman, Sky News Online

Barack Obama may have ruled out sending "boots on the ground" back to Iraq but in the face of a growing threat from the Islamic State (IS), the Pentagon appears to have hit upon a way to get them back in by the back door.

The US Army's Contracting Command has issued a tender notice for companies capable of deploying security assistance mentors and advisers in Iraq.

These individuals would be required for a 12-month contract, potentially extendable to a total of 36 months.

They are needed as consultants to the US "Office of Security Assistance in Iraq" and must be "cognisant of the goals of ... reducing tensions between Arabs and Kurds, and Sunnis and Shias".

Some 40,000 private security contractors formed a disparate mercenary army of mostly westerners during the American-led occupation of Iraq.

Private security guards may be set to return to Iraq. Pic: Pete Norman

Many had secret contracts to work with the Central Intelligence Agency and alongside US and British special forces to provide intelligence and guard forces.

Now it appears that former special forces operators and other highly skilled intelligence specialists are being recruited to return to Iraq.

Intelligence sources have told Sky News the only viable option to fight back against the spread of the IS is to restart the so-called Awakening programme which, by late 2008, had successfully mobilised Sunni tribesmen against al Qaeda.

The rump of al Qaeda fled to Syria where it became the core of what is now IS.

The new consultants would be required to conduct "force development", "training", "planning and operations" and "intelligence".

An MP5 sub-machinegun used by a security detail in Iraq. Pic: Pete Norman

They would liaise with the Iraqi Ministry of Defence, its Counter Terrorism Service and other branches of government.

The "sources sought" document was published on August 11 by the US Army on a federal website with the intent to canvas private organisations to establish whether they were capable of supplying the services.

Once this is established, the scale and fee would then be set.

The success of the Awakening campaign involved training and fighting militant tribesmen to take on al Qaeda.

Many of their leaders have indicated they would be prepared to do the same again - but would turn against IS only once Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, a Shia, steps down.

He has now indicated he is prepared to stand aside in favour of Haider al Abadi, a fellow Shia with a reputation for reaching out across the sectarian divide.

Private contractors would, inevitably, be drawn from the ranks of retired special operations troops and spies who were so integral to the Awakening campaign.

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