Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014)

Not to be confused with Northern Iraq offensive (August 2014).

Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014)
Part of the War in Iraq

Map of the offensive
Date4–25 June 2014
(2 weeks and 6 days)
Location
Nineveh, Kirkuk, Saladin, and Diyala Governorates
Result

Islamic State victory

Territorial
changes
  • Iraqi Government loses significant territories in northern Iraq to the Islamic State, including the region from Mosul to Tikrit and Tal Afar along with parts of Kirkuk and Diyala Governorates.[24]
  • Islamic State comes within 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the centre of the capital city Baghdad.[25]
  • A government counter-offensive leads to the recapture of territory north and west of Baghdad.[26][27]
  • Kurdish forces take control of Kirkuk, parts of northern Nineveh and north-eastern Diyala.[28]
    • Belligerents

    Republic of Iraq

    Assyrian people Assyrian/Syriac forces

    Syria Syria (limited involvement)

    Iran Iran[7]

    Supported by:
     United States[8][9]
     Russia[10]

     Kurdistan Region

    Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)

    Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant:[12]
    Islamic Army in Iraq[13]
    Jaish al-Mujahideen[14]
    Jaish al-Rashideen[15]
    1920 Revolution Brigades[16]
    Naqshbandi Army[17][18]

    GMCIR[19][20][21]
    Commanders and leaders

    Nouri al-Maliki
    Abboud Qanbar
    Babaker Zebari
    Ali Ghaidan
    Mahdi Al-Gharrawi
    Sabah Al-Fatlawi
    Qasem Soleimani

    Masoud Barzani
    Jaafar Sheikh Mustafa
    Sirwan Barzani

    Bahoz Erdal

    Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
    Islamic State Abu Abdulrahman al-Bilawi †[29]
    Amir Mohammed Abdul Rahman al-Mawli al-Salbi[30]

    Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri (JRTN)
    Strength

    250,000 federal soldiers[31][32]
    10,000 federal police
    30,000 local police
    2,000 Iranian Quds Force[33]
    1,000 U.S. Troops[34]

    190,000 Kurdish peshmerga[31]    		 Islamic State: 7,000[31]
    Casualties and losses
    Iraq:
    2,452 killed (1,566 executed)[35]
    90,000 deserted[36]
    1,900 captured[37]
    Iran:
    4 killed[38][39][40][41]
    		 Islamic State:
    3,106 killed[42]
    1,235–1,265 civilians killed (by 25 June)[43][44]
    1,000,000+ displaced[45]
    95 Turkish civilians taken prisoner[46]

    The Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014) began on 4 June 2014, when the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, assisted by various insurgent groups in the region, began a major offensive from its territory in Syria into Iraq against Iraqi and Kurdish forces, following earlier clashes that had begun in December 2013 involving guerillas.

    The Islamic State and its allies captured several cities and surrounding territory, beginning with an attack on Samarra on 4 June, followed by the seizure of Mosul on 10 June, and Tikrit on 11 June. As Iraqi government forces fled south on 13 June, Kurdistan Regional Government forces took control of the oil hub of Kirkuk, part of the disputed territories of Northern Iraq.[47][48]

    The Islamic State called the battles of Mosul and Saladin Governorate "the Battle of the Lion of God al-Bilawi" (Arabic: غزوة أسد الله البيلاوي), in honor of Abu Abdulrahman al-Bilawi.

    A former commander of the Iraqi ground forces, Ali Ghaidan, accused Former Prime Minister of Iraq, Nuri al-Maliki of being the one who issued the order to withdraw from the city of Mosul.[49]

    By late June, the Iraqi government had lost control of its borders with both Jordan and Syria.[50] Prime Minister of Iraq Nouri al-Maliki called for a national state of emergency on 10 June following the attack on Mosul, which had been seized overnight. However, despite the security crisis, Iraq's parliament did not allow Maliki to declare a state of emergency; many Sunni Arab and Kurdish legislators boycotted the session because they opposed expanding the prime minister's powers.[51]

    1. ^ Raheem Salman; Ahmed Rasheed (14 June 2014). "Iraq says slows Islamist rebel advance, regains some territory". Reuters. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020.
    2. ^ "Tony Blair: 'We didn't cause Iraq crisis". BBC News. 15 June 2014.
    3. ^ "Presence of the MFS at the border of Iraq". Syriac International News Agency. 16 June 2014. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2014.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
    4. ^ "Iraqi Christians under threat yet again". 20 July 2014.
    5. ^ Jeffrey, Paul (29 April 2016). "Militias of Iraqi Christians resist Islamic State amid sectarian strife". Catholic Philly. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
    6. ^ Nabhan, Ali A. (25 June 2014). "Syrian Warplanes Strike Western Iraq, Killing at Least 50 People". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
    7. ^ Farnaz Fassihi (13 June 2014). "Iran Deploys Forces to Fight Militants in Iraq". The Wall Street Journal.
    8. ^ Stephen Trimble. "Iraq regains fighter power with F-16IQ delivery". FlightGlobal. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
    9. ^ Jeremy Diamond (19 June 2014). "The good and the bad: President Obama's military options in Iraq". CNN.
    10. ^ "Iraq receives Russian fighter jets to fight rebels". BBC News. 29 June 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
    11. ^ Van Heuvelen, Ben. "Amid turmoil, Iraq's Kurdish region is laying foundation for independent state". Washington Post. Retrieved 13 June 2014. Kurdistan's military forces ... have taken over many of the northernmost positions abandoned by the national army, significantly expanding the zone of Kurdish control... "In most places, we aren't bothering them [ISIL], and they aren't bothering us – or the civilians," said Lt. Gen. Shaukur Zibari, a pesh merga commander.
    12. ^ Adam Withnall (30 June 2014). "Iraq crisis: Isis declares its territories a new Islamic state with 'restoration of caliphate' in Middle East". The Independent. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
    13. ^ "Islamist militants strengthen grip on Iraq's Falluja". Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
    14. ^ "Islamist militants strengthen grip on Iraq's Falluja". Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
    15. ^ "Islamist militants strengthen grip on Iraq's Falluja". Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
    16. ^ "Islamist militants strengthen grip on Iraq's Falluja". Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
    17. ^ "Uneasy Alliance Gives Insurgents an Edge in Iraq". The New York Times. 18 June 2014.
    18. ^ Al-Salhy, Suadad (18 January 2014). "Islamist militants strengthen grip on Iraq's Falluja". Reuters.
    19. ^ Muir, Jim (13 June 2014). "Could Iraq conflict boost Kurdish dreams of independence?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 15 June 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
    20. ^ Adnan, Khan (19 June 2014). "The U.S. debate over Iraq is missing the most serious questions". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 7 August 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
    21. ^ K. Dougherty, Beth, ed. (2019). Historical Dictionary of Iraq (3 ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. p. 267. ISBN 9781538120057.
    22. ^ Prothero, Mitch (24 July 2014). "Analysis: The Iraqi Army's collapse". Jane's Defence Weekly. "In June 2014 the weakened Iraqi Security Forces finally cracked: nineteen Iraqi Army brigades and six Federal Police brigades disintegrated, a quarter of Iraq’s security forces. These losses comprised all of the Ninawa-based 2nd and 3rd Iraqi Army divisions; the entire Mosul-based 3rd Federal Police division; most of the Salah al-Din-based 4th Iraqi Army division; all of the Kirkuk-based 12th Iraqi Army division; plus at least five southern Iraqi Army brigades that had previously been redeployed to the Syrian border." Michael Knights.
    23. ^ "Iraq to launch major ground offensive against IS group". France 24. 9 February 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
    24. ^ Urban, Mark (23 June 2014). "Iraq crisis: Where next in the struggle for the country?". BBC News.
    25. ^ Lucas, Mary Grace (12 October 2014). "ISIS nearly made it to Baghdad airport, top U.S. military leader says | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
    26. ^ Cite error: The named reference carrier was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
    27. ^ "Iraq Army recaptures Salahuddin cities and towns from ISIL". Iraqinews.com. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
    28. ^ "Warum die Kurden die großen Gewinner sind". Süddeutsche zeitung. 18 June 2014.
    29. ^ Arango, Tim; Al-Salhy, Suadad; Gladstone, Rick (12 June 2014). "Kurdish Fighters Take a Key Oil City as Militants Advance on Baghdad". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
    30. ^ Al-Tamimi, Aymenn (11 September 2023). "A Brief Biography of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi: The Islamic State's Second Caliph". Middle East Forum. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
    31. ^ a b c Peter Beaumont (12 June 2014). "How effective is Isis compared with the Iraqi army and Kurdish peshmerga?". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
    32. ^ "Iraqi forces are much stronger than ISIS, but the Iraqi army is kind of a mess". Vox. 20 November 2018.
    33. ^ "Iran sends troops into Iraq to aid fight against Isis militants". The Guardian. 14 June 2014.
    34. ^ "In Increase, U.S. to Send 130 Advisers to Aid Iraqis". The New York Times. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
    35. ^ "احصائية رسمية: 1997 العدد الكلي لمفقودي مجزرتي سبايكر وبادوش". Rudaw. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
    36. ^ Morris, Loveday (28 October 2013). "Iraq disintegrating as insurgents advance toward capital; Kurds seize Kirkuk". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
    37. ^ Matthew Weaver; Tom McCarthy; Raya Jalabi (16 June 2014). "Iraq crisis: US could team-up with Iran – live updates". The Guardian.
    38. ^ Golnaz Esfandiari (16 June 2014). "Iran IRGC's First 'Martyr' Versus ISIL?". Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty.
    39. ^ Amir Vahdat (25 June 2014). "3 Iranian troops killed in attack near Iraq border". Navy Times.
    40. ^ "Iraq Civil War - 2014". GlobalSecurity.
    41. ^ "Iraq civilian death toll continues to climb". Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
    42. ^ "Over 4,000 Killed Across Iraq So Far in June". Antiwar. 25 June 2014.
    43. ^ "US forces arrive in Baghdad to advise Iraqi troops". BBC. 25 June 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
    44. ^ "Iraq army 'routs Isis rebels' in offensive on Tikrit". BBC News. 28 June 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
    45. ^ "More than 1 million Iraqis have fled their homes as ISIS continues armed siege". CNN. 21 June 2014.
    46. ^ "ISIS captures hundreds of the military, and a fast fall of Northern Iraq". Alfajer. 12 June 2014.
    47. ^ Raseed, Ahmed; Coles, Isabella (13 June 2014). "Obama warns of U.S. action as jihadists push on Baghdad". Reuters. Retrieved 13 June 2014. Iraqi Kurdish forces took advantage of the chaos to take control of the oil hub of Kirkuk as the troops of the Shi'ite-led government abandoned posts, alarming Baghdad's allies both in the West and in neighboring Shi'ite regional power Iran... Kurds have long dreamed of taking Kirkuk and its huge oil reserves. They regard the city, just outside their autonomous region, as their historic capital, and peshmerga units were already present in an uneasy balance with government forces.
    48. ^ [1][dead link‍]
    49. ^ "قائد عسكري سابق: المالكي أمر بسحب القوات من الموصل". www.aljazeera.net (in Arabic). Retrieved 8 February 2022.
    50. ^ "Sunni militants 'seize Iraq's western border crossings'". BBC. 23 June 2014.
    51. ^ "Obama's Iraq dilemma: Fighting ISIL puts US and Iran on the same side".