Iraq

Indicators are emerging that security is deteriorating in Basra.

The ISIS mobile defense of SVBIEDs around Ramadi affirms ISF reports of advances around the city.

The government of PM Abadi is using its control over the ISF to protect anti-corruption demonstrators from local authorities south of Baghdad.

The five major Kurdish political parties - the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the Gorran (Change) Movement, the Kurdistan Islamic Union, and the Kurdistan Islamic Group - failed to resolve the status of the Iraqi Kurdistan presidency before the expiration of President Massoud Barzani’s term on August 20.

ISIS launched a large complex attack against ISF and Iraqi Shi’a militia positions in Baiji district on August 14, recapturing several parts of the city in an offensive that involved between 7-10 VBIEDs, direct and indirect fire, and up to 200 gunmen.

Prime Minister (PM) Haidar al-Abadi is pushing ahead with his political reform initiative following the unanimous passing of his reform bill on August 11 by the Council of Representatives (CoR).

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani’s landmark August 7 sermon has provided PM Abadi with a mandate to embark on administrative, financial, and anti-corruption reforms.

Popular demonstrations have continued and have spread in southern and northern Iraq in a development that may eventually threaten PM Abadi’s political standing, the stability of southern Iraq, and challenge the Iraqi government’s ability to dedicate national resources to the anti-ISIS campaign.