Thousands of Iraqis, mostly supporters of prominent cleric Moqtada Sadr, gathered in Baghdad Tuesday to pay their respects to seven people killed last week during a protest for electoral reform. Wearing black and waving Iraqi flags, the crowd laid flowers on mock coffins during a large but peaceful ceremony in the Iraqi capital’s Tahrir square, … Read more
British Defence Minister Michael Fallon said Saturday in Iraq that he expected to see the Islamic State group expelled from the country’s major towns by the end of 2017. “We expect to see Daesh (IS) expelled from the major towns and cities of Iraq during the course of the year,” he told reporters in Arbil, … Read more
Seven people were killed in clashes that erupted in central Baghdad on Saturday between the security forces and protesters demanding reforms to Iraq’s electoral system, police said. The violence was the deadliest to break out at a protest since a wave of demonstrations demanding better services and accusing Iraq’s political class of corruption and nepotism … Read more
Iraq’s prime minister has squashed a move by pro-Iranian factions in his government who wanted to retaliate against President Donald Trump’s travel ban. The struggle shows the difficult position the Iraqi leader finds himself in – pulled between his most powerful neighbor and the United States under Trump. For Haider al-Abadi, the situation had looked … Read more
Iraq’s prime minister has squashed a move by pro-Iranian factions in his government who wanted to retaliate against President Donald Trump’s travel ban. The struggle shows the difficult position the Iraqi leader finds himself in – pulled between his most powerful neighbor and the United States under Trump. For Haider al-Abadi, the situation had looked … Read more
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi confirmed on Tuesday that all of eastern Mosul has been captured from Islamic State, state TV said. Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about … Read more
At least 33 people were killed and 48 wounded in a car bomb attack on a busy square in Baghdad’s sprawling Sadr City district, police and medical sources said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday’s attack but the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group regularly … Read more
An Iraqi journalist was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen from her home in Baghdad overnight, police and relatives said on Tuesday, prompting Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to order an investigation. Afrah al-Qaisi is an outspoken critic of government institutions in satirical columns she writes for several local newspapers and media outlets. Qaisi used to work for … Read more
Iraqi forces will resume their push against Islamic State inside Mosul in the coming days, a U. S. battlefield commander said, in a new phase of the two-month-old operation that will see American troops deployed closer to the front line in the city. The battle for Mosul, involving 100,000 Iraqi troops, members of the Kurdish … Read more
Nearly 2,000 Iraqi troops were killed across Iraq in November as they battled to force ISIS extremists from the country, according to newly released UN figures. That’s nearly triple the number of military casualties reported in October, when an offensive to retake the city of Mosul from ISIS first began. The toll for November includes … Read more
Iraqi soldiers drive into to Shahrezad village east of Mosul, Iraq Iraqi special forces said they pushed deeper into Mosul on Friday despite heavy resistance from Islamic State militants using civilians as cover, and were holding half a dozen city neighborhoods seized in the last 10 days. The elite Counter Terrorism Service troops broke through … Read more
Men dressed in Iraqi federal police uniforms are reported to have tortured and killed residents of villages south of Mosul, Amnesty International says. Evidence gathered by the group suggests up to six people from the Shura and Qayyarah sub-districts were shot dead after being detained on suspicion of having ties to so-called Islamic State. There … Read more
The Iraqi prime minister has warned so-called Islamic State (IS) militants fighting in Mosul to lay down their weapons if they want to live, state media reports. Speaking on a visit to the front line to the east of the city, Haider al-Abadi said government-led forces “will not retreat and will not be broken”. He … Read more
Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi told his followers on Thursday there could be no retreat in a “total war” against the forces arrayed against them, as advancing soldiers battled the militants inside their northern Iraqi stronghold. Expressing confidence that his Islamic State fighters would prevail against Shi’ite Islam, Western “crusaders” and the Sunni “apostate” … Read more
Footage captures explosions near the Iraqi town of Bashiqa, where Kurdish forces have launched fresh Kurdish forces have carried out new attacks on positions of so-called Islamic State (IS) in northern Iraq to retake the town of Bashiqa, near Mosul. Kurdish Peshmerga commanders said they made large advances into IS territory and secured part of … Read more
the defense secretary has arrived in Iraq to retake the northern city of Mosul US Defense Secretary Ash Carter arrived in Iraq Sunday for an update on the battle to retake the northern city of Mosul from the Islamic State (IS) group and to discuss a possible role for Turkish troops with Iraqi and Kurdish … Read more
Turkey has insisted that its forces cannot remain idle during the fight to drive so-called Islamic State militants from the Iraqi city of Mosul. PM Binali Yildirim said it might be necessary to take action because Iraq and the US had not kept their promises. He said both countries had allowed Shia militias and Kurdish … Read more
Iraqi pro-government forces have made gains at the start of a large-scale operation to retake Mosul, the last major stronghold of the so-called Islamic State (IS) in the country. Iraqi government troops and Kurdish fighters launched their push towards the city in the early hours of Monday. IS seized Mosul during a lightning offensive in … Read more
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the start of military operations to liberate the northern city of Mosul from Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants early Monday, launching the country on its toughest battle since American troops left nearly five years ago. State TV showed a brief written statement in the early hours … Read more
ISIS in hot water as battle for Mosul begins The offensive to liberate Mosul from ISIS control has begun, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a televised statement early Monday. The fight is expected to last weeks, if not months, and if the battles to wrest Falluja and Ramadi from ISIS’ grip are indicators, … Read more