Global SITREP C11-14: Is the Middle East Boiling Over?

IDF tank crewmen with their Merkava MBT on the Golan near the Tel Hazaka-Quneitra crossing load ammunition yesterday, 22 June 2014. (AP Photo by Oded Balilty)

23 June 2014: In response to the deliberate targeting and murder of a 12-year old boy by Syrian government forces on the Israeli Golan, IDF retaliatory strikes destroyed nine high-value Syrian targets about 15 hours ago as of this posting. The boy was accompanying his father, an Israeli defense ministry contractor looking after the border fence, when the Syrian's fired a Russian-made Kornet anti-tank rocket at them. They boy was killed; the father survived that attack. Israel scored direct hits on the Syrian 90th BDE command center in Quneitra and three subordinate battalions in the same sector. 

Further to the east, on the Jordanian-Iraqi border, the AQ ISIS terrorists have attacked and possibly have seized the main Route 10 border crossing . This report follows the ISIS capture of the last major Iraqi town of Ar-Rutba in Iraq's western Anbar province.  ISIS also recently took control of the Syria-Iraq border crossings at Al-Qa'im on Route 12 in the north and Al-Waleed on Route 11 in the south, ISIS now controls all border crossings between Syria and Iraq and is in a position to attempt to take take control of  the Jordan-Iraq border crossing. Jordanian reinforcements are reportedly enroute to the Tarbil Crossing on Route 10.

Just learned that on 19 June ISIS launched an ambush against Iranian troops at the ancient border town of Qasr-e Shirin in Kermanshah Province, Iran.  The government of Iran officially acknowledged the attack two days later on 21 June, but claimed the attackers were a Kurdish militia instead of ISIS. While Iran was not forthcoming in acknowledging any casualties, it is known that at least two Iranian officers, and possibly more, were killed in the ambush. Saudi Arabia has belatedly warned Iran to not intervene in the Iraqi civil war; the ambush of Iranian troops occurred on the same day as they entered Iraq in large numbers to support the crumbling regime of Nouri al-Maliki.

24 June 2014: The Baiji Petroleum Refinery fell under the complete control of ISIS forces today. ISIS offered free passage to Erbil for all 460 remaining Iraqi soldiers as long as they would lay down their weapons.  ISIS will reportedly now hand over the Baiji Refinery to local Sunni tribesmen. ISIS also poses an imminent threat to the Haditha Dam, a major hydroelectric asset still under government control, and to which the Iraqi government has dispatched 2000 soldiers tasked with its defense.

25 June 2014: The Al Qaeda branch in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra, a/k/a The Nusra Front, pledged its loyalty to ISIS today during a meeting at the Syria-Iraq border town Albu Kamal.  The international aspect of Al Qaeda is reflected in the fact that Jabhat al-Nusra was represented at the meeting by an Egyptian jihadist and the ISIS by a Chechen commander. There is now a unified Sunni jihadist now in control of a large swath of Syrian and Iraqi territory plus virtual all of the border posts between the two countries. The oath of loyalty makes the name 'Islamic State of Iraq and Syria' a defacto reality.

26 June 2014: The answer to the question posed by the title of this SITREP is a resounding - Yes! The Middle East has boiled over into a virtual free-for-all of international conflict stretching from the Mediterranean coast to the Persian Gulf and from Turkey to the Saudi Desert. Eight nations (alphabetically: Lebanon, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the United States) are now directly involved in the fighting between Sunni and Shi'a armies. The Sunni armies count among their number hundreds, if not thousands, of foreign fighters from nations all over the planet. On the Shi'a side there is also the Iranian controlled Hezbollah which effectively includes the government of Lebanon. Indirect participation of Russia can also be assumed through its shipment of arms and other war materiel into the region and in support of the Shi'a forces.

 ISIS (a/k/a DAASH) controlled territory in Syria and Iraq as of Monday, 23 June 2014 in red color. Yellow-colored areas are known additional areas of combat operations.

27 June 2014: Add Egypt to the list of the eight nations to become directly involved in the war. A contingent of Egyptian special forces are being deployed to bolster Saudi Arabian special operations forces moving to defend the border with Iraq if necessary. Saudi reconnaissance aircraft discovered an ISIS column moving towards at the Arar border crossing at Highway 80 in the Al-Judaida region.

Update 28 June 2014: A barrage of rocket and mortar artillery fire coming out of HAMAS-ruled Gaza last evening was aimed at Israeli targets in Ashkelon to the north and the Eshkol Regional Council area (see image above) to the east of Gaza. The barrage resulted in no reported injuries or damage in Israel. Details can be read in this INN report. Israel responded to this latest series of attacks prior to dawn this morning by cutting the IAF loose against four select HAMAS military targets in Gaza, all of which were destroyed. Details are in this Times of Israel report.  In the Nahal 'Iron (Wadi Ara) area (not far from Haifa) clashes between Israeli-Arabs waving PLO flags and the IDF searching for a trio of kidnapped Israeli youth resulted in injuries to both the Arabs and IDF troops. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman was correct in saying that all those Arabs who support the actions of terrorists "should be treated as terrorists in every respect." That means bullets instead of tear gas. Soon enough, Avigdor, soon enough. It is inevitable.

Global SITREP C12-14 will pick up where this leaves off.