Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi congratulated the Iraqi people and security forces on winning a “major victory” over jihadists in Mosul, but fighting in the city continued on Wednesday. More than eight months since the start of the operation to retake Mosul from the Islamic State group, the jihadists have gone from fully controlling the city … Read more
Special forces have recaptured more of Mosul’s historic heart as they press the final stages of an assault to drive the Islamic State group from Iraq’s second city, the military said Sunday. More than eight months since the country’s forces launched a gruelling operation to retake Mosul, IS has gone from fully controlling the city … Read more
Iraqi soldiers snap victorious “selfies” and pose with a captured Islamic State group flag at the Mosul mosque where jihadist chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi once spoke. “Where is Baghdadi?” they say, taunting the absent jihadist leader at the site of his triumphal 2014 appearance, the only time he is known to have appeared in public … Read more
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi Friday thanked Iraq’s top Shiite cleric for his role in the war against jihadists, crediting him with saving the country and setting the stage for victory. Three days after Mosul fell to the Islamic State group in 2014, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called on Iraqis to volunteer to fight the jihadists, … Read more
Iraq will declare victory over the Islamic State group in Mosul during the “next few days,” a senior commander said Friday, as pressure also mounts on the jihadists in Syria. IS, which declared a cross-border “caliphate” encompassing swathes of Iraq and Syria three years ago, is now facing twin offensives in Mosul and Raqa, its … Read more
Iraq declared the Islamic State group’s “caliphate” was coming to an end after it recaptured Mosul’s iconic Nuri mosque Thursday, three years to the day after it was proclaimed by the jihadists. The jihadist group announced its self-styled “caliphate” on June 29, 2014 across swathes of territory its fighters overran in Iraq and neighbouring Syria. … Read more
US-backed forces cut off the last escape route for the Islamic State group from Raqa on Thursday, a monitor said, trapping the besieged jihadists inside their de facto Syrian capital. Fighters with the Syrian Democratic Forces captured two villages on the southern bank of the Euphrates River the jihadists had been passing through to withdraw … Read more
The Iraqi military announced on Thursday that special forces had recaptured the iconic Mosul mosque where jihadist chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his only known public appearance. A top special forces commander told AFP that while the Nuri mosque — which was blown up by the Islamic State group last week — was close to … Read more
Mosul’s trademark leaning minaret was missing from its skyline for the first time in centuries Thursday after desperate jihadists blew it up as Iraqi forces advanced on an ancient mosque compound. Explosions on Wednesday evening levelled the Nuri mosque where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi gave his first sermon as leader of the Islamic State group and … Read more
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday praised the “success” of Iraqi forces in the battle against the Islamic State group in Mosul. “Today Daesh is fleeing Iraq and this is an admirable success,” Khamenei said in reference to the jihadist group as he received Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Tehran. But he … Read more
Saudi Arabia and Iraq have made a “qualitative leap” in relations, they said Tuesday after a visit by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi that followed years of strained ties. It was Abadi’s first visit to Saudi Arabia since he became prime minister in 2014. After a quarter century without diplomatic relations, which were cut following Saddam … Read more
Iraq’s paramilitary Hashed al-Shaabi forces said Saturday that they had retaken all areas west of Mosul from the Islamic State group except the town of Tal Afar. The umbrella organisation, which is dominated by Iran-backed Shiite militias, has been fighting primarily on a separate western front since the battle to retake Mosul was launched in … Read more
Iraq is holding hundreds of millions of dollars Qatari negotiators had brought to Baghdad as ransom money for the release of kidnapped hunters, the prime minister said Tuesday. A hunting party consisting of 24 Qataris and two Saudis kidnapped in southern Iraq in December 2015 was released last week and flew back home from Baghdad … Read more
Six months since Iraqi forces launched a vast operation to oust the Islamic State group from second city Mosul, they have recaptured its east and are battling for the west. Here are key dates in offensive: – October 17: Iraqi forces launch the assault. The jihadists had declared an Islamic “caliphate” there in June 2014 … Read more
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and the US’s top military officer met with Kurdish leaders in Arbil on Tuesday, the second day of their visit to Iraq. His inclusion in the US delegation is a sign of the influence wielded by Jared Kushner, a 36-year-old with no prior government experience who has become one of the … Read more
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and top aide Jared Kushner visited Baghdad Monday with the US’s top military officer, meeting Iraq’s premier to discuss the fight against the Islamic State group. The visit comes as Iraqi forces battle to retake Mosul from IS with support from US-led air strikes that have recently been criticised for causing … Read more
UN chief Antonio Guterres appealed on Friday for more aid for the people of Mosul, as he visited a camp for Iraqis displaced by the battle to retake the second city from jihadists. Iraq is nearly six months into the operation to oust the Islamic State group from its most populous bastion — a battle … Read more
UN chief Antonio Guterres appealed on Friday for more aid for the people of Mosul, as he visited a camp for Iraqis displaced by the battle to retake the second city from jihadists. Iraq is nearly six months into the operation to oust the Islamic State group from its most populous bastion — a battle … Read more
UN chief Antonio Guterres appealed Friday for more aid and international solidarity for the people of Mosul, as he visited a camp for Iraqis displaced by fighting with jihadists. “We don’t have the resources that are necessary to support these people and we don’t have the international solidarity that is needed,” Guterres told journalists during … Read more
UN chief Antonio Guterres visited Iraq on Thursday, calling for protecting civilians to be the “absolute priority” as hundreds of thousands are caught up in the battle to retake Mosul. More than 200,000 people have fled west Mosul since the operation to oust the Islamic State group began last month, and officials and witnesses say … Read more