ISIS has finally admitted its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead, according to reports in Iraq. The terror group is said to have confirmed that the 45-year-old was killed in an air strike in the Iraqi province of Nineveh. Reports claim ISIS fanatics are scrambling to find a successor to the terror chief, who announced the formation of … Read more
Fighters of so-called Islamic State (IS) have launched counter-attacks as they come under growing pressure from Iraqi forces in Mosul. IS deployed large numbers of suicide bombers in different parts of the northern Iraqi city but the affected areas were quickly brought under control, Iraqi officials say. IS has now been squeezed into a square … Read more
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad led Eid al-Fitr prayers in the central city of Hama on Sunday, appearing in public outside the capital for the first time in a year. Assad’s office published images of him praying inside the brightly-lit Al-Nuri mosque at dawn on Sunday before greeting worshippers outside. He was flanked by Islamic Endowments … Read more
The United States on Thursday branded the Islamic State group’s demolition of an 800-year-old mosque in Mosul an attack on world heritage and “an edifice of a great religion.” The Al-Nuri mosque and its iconic leaning minaret were levelled on Wednesday evening as US-backed Iraqi forces closed in on jihadist hold-outs in the northern city. … Read more
Iraqi forces said Tuesday they were fighting fierce battles with the Islamic State group and rescuing escaping civilians as they pursued their offensive against Mosul’s jihadist-held Old City. Staff Lieutenant General Abdulghani al-Assadi, a senior commander in the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), said the battle was proceeding as expected but that progress was slow. “Things are … Read more
A few hundred metres from an iconic mosque in west Mosul, Iraqi sniper Salah al-Zuheiri has his eye glued to his scope as he searches for Islamic State group jihadists. Iraqi forces are battling to retake Mosul from IS, after the group overran the city in 2014 and its leader proclaimed a “caliphate” from the … Read more
A suicide truck bomber targeted a police checkpoint in southern Baghdad on Wednesday night, killing 17 people and wounding at least 60 others. The bomber detonated the vehicle – an oil tanker laden with explosives, security and hospital officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity under regulations. Three policemen were among the dead while the … Read more
Iraqi forces renewed their assault Monday against jihadists in Mosul’s Old City, after days in which the battle was overshadowed by reports of heavy civilian casualties from air strikes. Iraqi forces began the massive operation to retake west Mosul from the Islamic State (IS) group last month and have recaptured a series of neighbourhoods, but … Read more
Coalition says it struck area in west Mosul where officials say scores of civilians were killed by aerial bombardment. The US-led coalition bombing ISIL positions in Iraq has admitted that it carried out air raids last week at a location in west Mosul where officials and residents say scores of civilians were killed. The acknowledgement … Read more
Iraqi forces gained ground from the Islamic State group in Mosul and have deployed snipers in the Old City to target the jihadists, officers said on Tuesday. Iraqi forces launched a major operation to recapture west Mosul — the most-populated urban area still held by IS — on February 19, and have retaken a series … Read more
A car bomb exploded in the Iraqi capital on Monday, killing at least 23 people and wounding 45 others in a mainly Shia district in southwestern Baghdad. The attack – as Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi met US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC – targeted a busy commercial district of the Hay al-Amel suburb, according … Read more
Iraqi forces battled Islamic State group fighters on Monday to push into Mosul’s Old City where thousands of civilians remain trapped under jihadist rule. The city’s historic centre is home to the Al-Nuri mosque, where IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in July 2014 proclaimed an IS “caliphate” in jihadist-controlled territory in Iraq and neighbouring Syria. … Read more
Iraqi forces backed by helicopter strikes engaged in heavy fighting with jihadists on the outskirts of the Old City on Sunday as they pressed an offensive to recapture west Mosul. The elite Rapid Response Force and Iraqi federal police attacked the Islamic State group militants with rifles, machineguns, mortar rounds and rockets a month after … Read more
Elite Iraqi forces said they were battling house by house in the Old City of Mosul on Saturday, inching towards the mosque where the Islamic State group proclaimed its “caliphate” in 2014. Iraq began an operation on February 19 to retake west Mosul, which is the last major Islamic State group urban bastion in the … Read more
Elite Iraqi forces battled house by house in the Old City of Mosul on Saturday, inching towards the mosque where the Islamic State group proclaimed its “caliphate” in 2014, a spokesman said. Commanders said that progress in the densely populated warren of alleyways was slow but that government forces had made new gains from IS … Read more