Iraqi Army M1A1 Main Battle Tank goes up in flames.
14 July 2014: Meanwhile, back in Mesopotamia the jihadists of the Islamic State (formerly known as ISIS) ambushed and completely destroyed a large and powerful Iraqi army column in the area of Al-Khalidiyah, Anbar Province, Iraq in very recent days. Al-Khalidiyah is about halfway between Ar-Ramadi and Al-Falluja, so it would seem that the Iraqi armor (mostly M1A1 MBTs and M113 APCs) was enroute to strike Al-Falluja from the west when it was ambushed by Islamic State fighters.
A column of several Iraqi Army M-113 APCs continue burning after the ambush.
The Iraqi Army clearly fought the Islamic State ambush at first, but then succumbed to the pressure of seeing their main battle tanks being overwhelmed and promptly abandoned their remainder of their armored vehicles in place rather than fight on or effect combat maneuvering to escape from the ambush. After the battle was finished the Islamic State drove the surviving and abandoned Iraqi Army armors off the field of battle as very prized war booty. This report can be seen in full at The Long War Journal.
Islamic State jihadists drive off with their M113 APC war booty.
Islamic State jihadists stand on top of a captured M1A1 Main Battle Tank.
One has to wonder what the reaction of the armed forces of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is to images such as these which have made the rounds after publication of the Islamic State's Twitter account four days ago. The Islamic State achieved this rather stunning victory without any overhead combat air support such as the government of Iraq is now known to have at its disposal.
UPDATE 14 July 2014: Iraqi and U.S. officials have confirmed that fighters allied with the Islamic State not only captured hundreds of U.S.-supplied Humvees and large amounts of ammunition in their march across Iraq, but they also now possess as many as 52 U.S.-supplied artillery pieces with GPS aiming systems. The 155mm guns have a range of 20 miles, putting many Iraqi cities still in government hands easily within range of Islamic State positions. (Update via Mitchell Prothero @ mcclatchydc.com)
UPDATE 14 July 2014: Iraqi and U.S. officials have confirmed that fighters allied with the Islamic State not only captured hundreds of U.S.-supplied Humvees and large amounts of ammunition in their march across Iraq, but they also now possess as many as 52 U.S.-supplied artillery pieces with GPS aiming systems. The 155mm guns have a range of 20 miles, putting many Iraqi cities still in government hands easily within range of Islamic State positions. (Update via Mitchell Prothero @ mcclatchydc.com)
What a monumental waste of American taxpayer money to furnish Iraqi with American Armor. I hope ISIS loves its new armor!
ReplyDeleteMaranatha! Mark
Yup, agreed Mark!
ReplyDeleteBut at least they're the older and obsolete M1A1 MBTs and M113 APCs.