LATEST: ISIS Leader al-Baghdadi Declares “Caliphate” of Islamic State Across Iraq & Syria
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ISIS Leader al-Baghdadi Declares “Caliphate” of Islamic State Across Iraq & Syria
The Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has declared a Caliphate of an “Islamic State” across Iraq and Syria.
The statement, delivered by ISIS spokesman Abu Mohammad al-Adnani for the start of Ramadan on Sunday, said that al-Baghdadi is the Caliph — “Ibrahim” — to whom all Muslims should declare allegiance: “The Shura _Council_ of the Islamic State met and discussed this issue…The Islamic State decided to establish an Islamic caliphate and to designate a caliph for the state of the Muslims.”
The declaration of a Caliph, a political successor to the Prophet Mohammad, is the first since the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1923.
Al-Adnani said, “The sun of jihad has risen….The borders are destroyed….The Muslims are glorified.”
Iraqi Forces Pull Back from Attack on Tikrit
UPDATE 1245 GMT: Eyewitnesses say Iraqi forces have pulled back from their attack on Tikrit, withdrawing to Dijla, 25 km (16 miles) to the south.
Iraqi forces expanded their assault on Tikrit on Saturday, trying to reclaim the city taken by insurgents almost three weeks ago.
The offensive started on Thursday when at least two helicopters dropped special forces into Tikrit, which was captured by insurgents soon after they took Iraq’s second city Mosul. Snipers took up positions on rooftops at Tikrit University. A tribal leader said more special forces set up at the al-Shara air base, known as Camp Speicher during the US occupation.
Attacks began on Friday, with Baghdad claiming 29 insurgents and a commander killed. They grew more intense on Saturday, with Iraqi troops moving from the main Baghdad highway to the south, on a road from Samarra to the southeast, and the Irbil road to the northwest.
Residents said the forces, facing roads rigged with explosives, were checked in their advance and were besieged at the university and challenged at al-Shara. Iraqi warplanes responded with bombardment in the afternoon.
Social media accounts supporting the insurgency claimed that the attacks failed, with the deaths of scores of Iraqi forces.
The city is defended by the Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham and Sunni groups such as the Naqshbandi Army, Ansar al-Sunna, and Ansar al-Islam.
Tikrit is 85 miles north of Baghdad. It has a population of about 200,000.
Iraq Receives 1st 5 Jet Fighters from Russia
The Defense Ministry said it has received the first group of fighter jets ordered from Russia.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said last week that Baghdad was turning to Moscow and Belarus because it was not receiving assistance from the US. The deal is reportedly worth up to $500 million.
The Defence Ministry said five Sukhoi SU-25 attack aircraft, brought into Iraq on Russian cargo planes, would enter service in “three to four days”.
Two more fighters are being delivered on Sunday.
“In the coming three or four days the aircraft will be in service to support our forces in the fight” against insurgents, said General Anwar Hama Ameen, the commander of the Iraqi Air Force.
General Ameen said that Russian military experts had arrived to help set up a total of 12 planes, but would stay only a short time.
