Siege of Amirli

Siege of Amirli
Part of the War in Iraq, the Military intervention against ISIL,
and the Salahuddin campaign (2014–15)

A map of Saladin Governorate, where Amirli is located
Date11 June 2014 – 31 August 2014 (2 months, 2 weeks and 6 days)
Location
Amirli, Saladin Governorate, Iraq
Result Iraqi and allied victory
Territorial
changes		 ISIL is driven out of the eastern part of the Saladin Governorate
Belligerents

Islamic State

Iraq Iraq

 Iran[2][3]

Special Groups[4]

 Kurdistan Region

Air support:

Aid support:[7]

Commanders and leaders

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (Leader of ISIL)
Abu Omar al-Shishani (Military Chief)

Islamic State Abu Muslim al-Turkmani (Deputy, Iraq)		 Iraq Abdul Emir al-Zaidi
Iran Qasem Soleimani[2][9]
Kurdistan Region Kareem Mullah Shakoor
Hadi Al-Amiri
Kareem al-Nouri
Muqtada al-Sadr
Strength
Unknown Badr Brigades: 4,000[4]
Casualties and losses
147 killed[10]
15 captured[11]		 16 killed[12]
6 executed[citation needed]
39 wounded[10][12]

The siege of Amirli was a siege of the predominantly Shi'ite Turkmen town of Amirli in Iraq by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during the War in Iraq. The town was besieged by ISIL forces for 50 days from June 2014, lacking access to food, electricity, and water. Most of the residents are Shia Turkmen, who had organized local self-defense militias to fight against ISIL.[13] On August 31, the Iraqi military reportedly broke the siege and entered the town.[14][15] It has been described as "Iraq's biggest victory against ISIS", as of September 2014.[9]

Iran had reportedly played a "military planning" role in breaking the siege of Amirli.[2]

  1. ^ "ISIS Lays Siege to Iraqi Turkmen Village". Time. 24 August 2014.
  2. ^ a b c Coles, Isabel (September 1, 2014). "Iranians play role in breaking IS siege of Iraqi town". Reuters. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  3. ^ Ahmed, Azam (September 2, 2014). "Waging Desperate Campaign, Iraqi Town Held Off Militants". The New York Times. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  4. ^ a b "The Iraqi troops launches a huge operation to break the siege of Amirli". Rai Alyoum. 30 August 2014. Archived from the original on 17 July 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  5. ^ "التركمان يشاركون في معركة تحرير تكريت بلواء من 4 آلاف مقاتل". Almada. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  6. ^ "Iraqi Town Besieged by Islamic State Pleads for U.S. Help". Wall Street Journal. August 21, 2014. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  7. ^ a b "US planes drop aid and strike IS positions near Iraq's Amerli". BBC News. 31 August 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  8. ^ "نقش ایران در پیروزی پیشمرگه‌ها بر دولت اسلامی". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  9. ^ a b Rosen, Armin (September 3, 2014). "Iran's Military Mastermind Was Reportedly Present During Iraq's Biggest Victory So Far Against ISIS". Business Insider. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  10. ^ a b "A brutal battle with ISIS to break the siege of Amirli". Al Ghad. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  11. ^ "Iraqi and Kurdish troops enter the sieged Amirli". BBC News. 31 August 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  12. ^ a b "Peshmerga and Iraqi forces enter Suleiman Bek town". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  13. ^ "Iraq conflict: UN warns of possible Amerli 'massacre'". BBC News. 23 August 2014. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC 2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference CBS was invoked but never defined (see the help page).