이라크군, 알카에다 과격파 조직 공격 개시

 

이라크에서 국제 테러조직인 알카에다계 세력이 북부 도시를 제압하고 수도 바그다드로 향해 남하를 계속하고 있는데 대해, 말리키 정권은 헬리콥터를 사용해서 공습을 개시하는 등 반격에 나섰습니다.

이라크에서는 국제테러조직인 알카에다와 관련이 있는 이슬람교 수니파의 과격파 조직이 10일까지 제2의 도시인 북부의 모술을 제압한데 이어, 그 남쪽에 있는 사마라에 대한 공격을 가하며 수도 바그다드로 향해 공세를 강화하고 있습니다.

이에 대해 말리키 정권은 12일, 모술과 티크리트에서 군 헬기를 사용해 과격파 조직의 거점에 대한 공격을 개시한 외에도, 시가지에서 지상전을 벌일 특수부대를 전선에 파견하는 등, 빼앗긴 도시의 탈환 준비를 하고 있습니다.

과격파 조직이 지금까지 장악한 곳은 모술과 이슬람교 수니파가 많이 사는 지역으로, 시아파인 말리키 수상에 대한 주민들의 반발에 편승해서 공세를 강화하고 있는 것으로 보여, 바그다드에서 북쪽으로 약 100km 떨어진 지점까지 진격했습니다.

 

 

이라크 무장단체, 모술 이어 티크리트 장악

                                   6월 10일 이라크 북부 도시 모술에서 급진 수니파 무장단체의 공격을 받은 정부군 차량에서 검은 연기가 피어오르고 있다.

이라크 급진 수니파 무장단체가 북부 모술에 이어 티크리트까지 장악했습니다.

현지 경찰 관계자는 티크리트 전체가 무장세력의 수중에 들어갔다며,이들은 알카에다에서 퇴출당한 무장단체 '이라크, 레바논 이슬람국가' 소속이라고 말했습니다.

이에 따라 이라크 정부가 통제력을 잃은 주는3개로 늘었습니다.

키르쿠크 주 남부에서도 교전이 벌어지는 등 4개 주에서 정부군과 무장단체간 대치가 이어지고 있으며, 키르쿠크에서는 무장세력이 이라크 군경 15명을 처형했다는 보도도 나왔습니다.

이런 가운데 모술 주민 50만 명이 피난길에 올랐습니다.

이라크 의회는 이에 대해 12일 긴급회의를 열 예정입니다.

VOA 뉴스

 

                                                        The advance of the militants has been swift - with the Iraqi army abandoning posts

 

                                        Iraqis gathered at the army's recruitment centre in Baghdad, after officials urged them to fight the militants

 

*Militant leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

 

                                                       The Iraqi interior ministry released this image of Baghdadi in January 2014   

 

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), has been careful to reveal little about himself and his whereabouts.

There are only two authenticated photos of him, and unlike al-Qaeda leaders such as Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, he does not appear in video messages.

Even his own fighters reportedly do not speak about seeing him face to face.

The ISIS chief also appears to wear a mask to address his commanders, earning the nickname "the invisible sheikh".

But Baghdadi - a nom de guerre, rather than his real name - has good reason to maintain a veil of mystery, says the BBC's Security Correspondent, Frank Gardner.

One of his predecessors, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi who headed the most violent jihadist group in Iraq until his death, was a high-profile showman whose secret location was eventually tracked down. He was killed in a US bombing raid in 2006.

The leader of al-Qaeda's current incarnation in Iraq may be a shadowy figure, but his organisation ISIS is pulling in thousands of new recruits and has become one of the most cohesive militias in the Middle East, our correspondent adds.

Highly organised

Baghdadi is believed to have been born in Samarra, north of Baghdad, in 1971.

Reports suggest he was a cleric in a mosque in the city around the time of the US-led invasion in 2003.

Some believe he was already a militant jihadist during the rule of Saddam Hussein. Others suggest he was radicalised during the four years he was held at Camp Bucca, a US facility in southern Iraq where many al-Qaeda commanders were detained.

He emerged as the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, one of the groups that later became ISIS, in 2010, and rose to prominence during the attempted merger with al-Nusra Front in Syria.

He has not sworn allegiance to the leader of the al-Qaeda network, Zawahiri, who has urged ISIS to focus on Iraq and leave Syria to al-Nusra.

Baghdadi and his fighters have openly defied the al-Qaeda chief, leading some commentators to believe he now holds higher prestige among many Islamist militants.

"The true heir to Osama bin Laden may be ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi," David Ignatius wrote in The Washington Post.

Zawahiri still has a lot of power by virtue of his franchises in Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa.

But Baghdadi has a reputation as a highly organised and ruthless battlefield tactician, which analysts say makes his organisation more attractive to young jihadists than that of Zawahiri, an Islamic theologian.

In October 2011, the US officially designated Baghdadi as "terrorist" and offered a $10m ($6m; 7m euros) reward for information leading to his capture or death.

It notes Baghdadi's aliases, including Abu Duaa and Dr Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai.

As well as the uncertainty surrounding his true identity, his whereabouts are also unclear with reports he was in Raqqa in Syria.

So there remain more questions than answers about the leader of one of the world's most dangerous jihadist groups.

 

                                                   The US government released an image of the ISIS leader and offered a reward of $10m

 

*ISIS in Iraq

                                                                        An Islamist fighter near a burning Iraqi army Humvee in Tikrit

• The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) has 3,000 to 5,000 fighters, and grew out of an al-Qaeda-linked organisation in Iraq
• ISIS has exploited the standoff between the Iraqi government and the minority Sunni Arab community, which complains that Shia Prime Minister Nouri Maliki is monopolising power
• It has already taken over Ramadi and Falluja, but taking over Mosul is its greatest achievement
• The organisation is led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, an obscure figure regarded as a battlefield commander and tactician who was once the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, one of the groups that later became ISIS.

Are you in Saadiya, Jalawla or Baghdad? Have you been affected by the latest developments? You can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using