Iraq closed its northern airspace to commercial flights on Monday for at least two days due to military traffic from Russia’s air campaign in neighboring Syria, Reuters reported. The closure could affect domestic routes to Erbil and Sulaimaniya as well as international flights from Turkey, Jordan, the Gulf and Austria. Iraq’s civil aviation authority said that the flight suspensions had been made “because of the crossing of cruise missiles and bombers in the northern part of Iraq launched from the Caspian Sea.”
Kurdish forces take control of Sinjar
The northern town of Sinjar has been liberated following battles with the Takfiri Daesh terrorists over the city.
“The liberation of Sinjar will have a big impact on liberating Mosul,”
Kurdish Peshmerga forces entered Sinjar, situated over 400 kilometers (250 miles) northwest of the capital, Baghdad, from all directions.
Intense exchanges of gunfire are reported inside the town. The Peshmerga forces are engaged in battles to drive the remaining Daesh forces out of Sinjar, according to reports.
“ISIL defeated and on the run,” the Kurdistan regional security council said in a tweet, using an acronym for Daesh.
It said Peshmerga forces have secured several important facilities in Sinjar, namely a cement factory, hospital and a number of other public buildings.
Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces together with fighters from Popular Mobilization units have entered Ramadi, the provincial capital of Iraqi al-Anbar Province and another Daesh-held town, in a separate drive to defeat and flush out the terrorists.
Brigadier General Yahya Rasool, the spokesman for the Joint Operations Command, announced on Friday that Iraqi army troopers and Popular Mobilization fighters backed by the country’s air support launched a ground operation against Daesh Takfiris in Ramadi, situated about 110 kilometers (68 miles) west of Baghdad, from the north, west and southwest.
On Wednesday, the commander of the Burraq forces of the Popular Mobilization units, Wasiq Fartousi, told the Arabic-language al-Sumaria satellite television network that his forces together with Iraqi security personnel and tribal fighters had managed to seize complete control of the Albu-Hayat area in Haditha District, 160 kilometers (99 miles) west of Ramadi.
They killed 115 Daesh terrorists during the operation. Fartousi added that Arab nationals as well as citizens of a number of Western countries were among the slain Takfiris.
The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by violence ever since Daesh began its terror activities through Iraqi territory in June 2014. Army soldiers and Popular Mobilization units have joined forces, and are seeking to take back militant-held regions in joint operations.
‘US-led coalition 60 nations modern weapons 14 months ISIS still in power– Iraq’s ex-PM
The US-led coalition has been “unbelievably” inefficient in fighting the terror group Islamic State, possibly because some members have their plans for the terrorists, Iraq’s former PM told RT.Nouri al-Maliki, who stepped down as the head of the Iraqi government last year and remains a vice-president, believes that Iraq was targeted by a “regional conspiracy” and is at risk of breaking up. He also said inviting Russia to target Islamic State targets in Iraq could play a positive part in the debacle.
Describing the effort of the international coalition led by the US to cripple ISIS fighters in Iraq, Maliki said it was “inefficient”.
“It’s unbelievable and unacceptable that more than 60 nations comprising this coalition that have the most modern aircraft and weapons at their disposal have been conducting their campaign in Iraq for 14 months and IS still remains in the country,” he told RT’s Arabic-language sister-channel Rusiya Al-Yaum.
Maliki cited the loss of the city of Ramadi and the major oil refining center Baiji to ISIS, both of which happened after the coalition started bombing the terrorists, as proof that not enough is being done by the coalition.
“Some members of the coalition have their own strategies that account for ISIS either continuing to exist or being destroyed. They also consider what would happen after ISIS’s destruction. I believe they are indecisive, trying to calculate what happens. What will be the situation in Iraq, in the region, will the map look the same? Or maybe ISIS is a key instrument for changing the situation in Iraq and the region?” he asked.
Iraqi forces retake refinery town of Baiji, military says
Iraqi forces and volunteer fighters have managed to liberate a major northern town from the Daesh Takfiri terrorists, military officials say.
The spokesman of Iraq’s Joint Military Command Brigadier General Yahya Rasool said on Tuesday that army troops and paramilitary fighters, known as Popular Mobilization Forces, retook the town of Baiji in Salahuddin Province earlier in the day.
Baiji is located about 180 kilometers (112 miles) south of the major city of Mosul, which fell to the Takfiri militants in June 2014. The town, which is home to Iraq’s largest oil refinery, has been the scene of fierce clashes between terrorists and pro-government forces over the past weeks.
Footage aired by the state-run TV showed Iraqi troops waving flags from rooftops in Baiji as thick black smoke billowed into the air.
Iraqi officials announced the liberation of the oil installations in Baiji last week.
Baiji is the second most significant area recaptured in Salahuddin over the past months as pro-government forces retook the provincial capital of Tikrit in late March after weeks of clashes with the militants. The liberation of Baiji could be a prelude to Iraq’s highly-anticipated offensive into Mosul, which has served as the de-facto capital of Daesh in Iraq.
The allied Iraqi forces are also fighting against Daesh in the western province of Anbar, where reports have indicated significant advances by the army around positions of the terrorist group in the provincial capital of Ramadi.
Turkey: Erdogan receive condolences while he is Massacring Kurd Inside Turkey & Iraq
The Turkish air force has pounded Kurdish militants a day after a deadly bomb attack on a rally for peace in the capital Ankara, BBC reported.
Planes hit Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) targets in both the south-east and over the border in northern Iraq.
Saturday’s twin bombing in Ankara killed at least 95 people, making it the deadliest such attack ever.Security sources say they suspect the so-called Islamic State (IS) group was behind the attack.The air force struck after the government rejected a new ceasefire announced by the PKK on Saturday.Tensions in Turkey were already high, with a general election looming on 1 November.
The governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost its overall majority in June after gains by the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP), which was involved in Saturday’s rally.
PKK positions were destroyed in the Metina and Zap areas of northern Iraq in Sunday’s air strikes, the Turkish military said.
Iraq Joint Operation Center Confirms ISIL Leader “Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi” Injured in Airstrike
The Baghdad Information Center confirmed that the leader of ISIL jihadist group has been injured in an airstrike in Iraq.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The leader of the Islamic State (ISIL) jihadist group has been injured in an airstrike in Iraq, the Baghdad Information Center confirmed.
“Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was injured in the bombing that targeted his motorcade,” the center said in a statement on Sunday.
It added that two terrorist leading figures – Abu Omar Kubaisi and Abu Saad Karbouli – were also injured in the attack.
Local media reported earlier Baghdadi’s fate remained unknown after Iraqi Air Forces attacked an ISIL convoy in the western Iraqi province of Anbar.
Iraqi Kurdish authorities shut down NRT, KNN TV offices in Erbil, Duhok
ERBIL-Hewler, Kurdistan region ‘Iraq’,— A statement from the Nalia Media Corporation on Saturday said that a group of armed personnel claiming to be local security forces (Asayish) broke in to NRT’s office on late Saturday in Kurdistan capital city of Erbil, arrested staff members and closed down the office. NRT’s staff was later released and forced to leave Erbil from the Degala checkpoint.
Later another group of the security forces in Duhok broke in to NRT’s office in that city, taking control and closing it down.
NRT is the only independent Kurdish satellite TV channel in Iraqi Kurdistan region.
Also security force closed three offices of KNN satellite channel close to Change (Gorran) Movement in Erbil and Dohuk cities and Soran district.
The representative of Press Freedom Advocacy in Iraq Association said that other security forces closed offices of KNN channel in each of Erbil, Dohuk and Soran, and deported Erbil offices’ team who are three people to Sulaimani city after they were detained for a short period, and then took them to police station of Dekla area, and deported them.
He said that the police force stopped the Channel team in Erbil on Saturday afternoon before their detention, while covering a demonstration by a number of citizens demanding the payment of overdue salaries, confiscated their tapes and took them away from the place of the demonstration.
The crackdown on the media comes after thousands of people demonstrated in Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaimani province, Kalar district near Erbil and in several other towns Saturday, demanding that KDP leader Massoud Barzani whose presidency ended on August 20, to step down.
Barzani’s mandate expired in August and political talks over his succession have failed. The 69-year-old leader has held the presidency since 2005.
Barzani has been accused by critics of amassing huge wealth for his family instead of serving the population.
Nalia Media Corporation believes that the security and safety of its journalists and other employees in Barzani led KDP-controlled areas are the responsibility of police and security forces in Erbil and Duhok.
The Channel also demand an explanation from the Kurdistan Regional Government KRG on these unlawful and uncivil actions by the Asayish against our channel and our journalists.
NRT TV is the only independent satellite channel in the Kurdish region. It is a window for people in Kurdistan – a balanced perspective through which the Kurdish people can observe events in the region – and shutting it down is like blindfolding the people of Kurdistan. This is the beginning of hiding the truth of what is going on in areas of Kurdistan controlled by KDP.
The Kurdish TV asks the representatives of foreign countries in Kurdistan, all organizations and political parties, and the people of Kurdistan to raise their voices against these abuses.
Source: eKurd
Iraqi Air Force strikes convoy of ISIS leader al-Baghdadi – military statement
A photo of the Daesh Takfiri group chief, Ibrahim al-Samarrai aka Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, from US Army files relating to his time as a detainee in Iraq.
Iraq’s Air Force has struck the convoy of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, but his fate is unknown, says a military statement cited by Reuters.
“Iraqi air forces have bombed the convoy of the terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi while he was heading to Karabla to attend a meeting with Daesh [ISIS] commanders,” the statement read.
The military gave no information about the fate of the terrorist leader.
Hospital sources and local residents have told Reuters that ISIS leaders were killed in the airstrike, but that al-Baghdadi wasn’t among them.
The convoy was attacked on Sunday in western Anbar province, at a location not far from the Syrian border, where Baghdadi was known to be meeting Islamic State commanders.
“The location of the meeting was also bombed and many of the group’s leaders were killed and wounded. The fate of the murderer al-Baghdadi is unknown and he was carried away by a vehicle. His health condition is still unclear,” the military said, according to Reuters.
Kurdistan region ‘Iraq: Kurdish protesters attack KDP party offices in Iraqi Kurdistan
ERBIL-Hewler, Kurdistan region ‘Iraq’,— Protesters attacked several offices of the main political party in Iraq’s Kurdish north on Saturday in a third day of violent unrest that threatens to destabilize the region at a time of war with Islamic State militants.
The demonstrations that began on Oct. 1 initially targeted the autonomous region’s government, which many Kurds blame for an economic crisis that has left them struggling to pay the bills.
But the anger took a partisan turn on Friday when protesters in the city of Qaladize torched an office of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) after at least one demonstrator was killed.
The region’s president, Massoud Barzani, called for calm but young men blocked a main road in the town of Said Sadiq on Saturday and pelted a KDP building with stones, said Farouq Abd al-Karim, a local party member who was present.
Live footage from Said Sadiq broadcast on Kurdish channel NRT showed riot police holding back protesters, some of whom wielded slingshots. Shops were shuttered and a tire burned in the street.
There were also protests in the city of Sulaimani and the town of Kalar, where demonstrators threw stones at a KDP office.
The pattern of unrest reflects long-running political divisions in the autonomous region of three provinces that have been exacerbated by a power struggle over the presidency of Barzani, who is also head of the KDP.
Sulaimani province, where the protests are taking place is dominated by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party and former opposition movement Gorran, which are seeking to weaken the KDP’s grip on power.
In Erbil and Duhok provinces, where the KDP is strong, security was tightened around offices of the PUK and Gorran to avert any retaliatory attacks.
The KDP, Gorran, PUK and two of the region’s other parties have been wrangling over the terms of an extension of Barzani’s tenure since it expired on Aug. 20.
The stalemate has polarized Kurdish politics and compounded an economic crisis that began in early 2014 when Baghdad slashed funds to the region. A drop in oil prices has pushed the region further towards bankruptcy.
Massoud Barzani has led Kurdistan region as president from 2005 for two executive terms and his last term was extended in 2013 by ruling KDP and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) for two more years on the condition that he can no longer run as president.
Iraqi Kurdistan parliament speaker, Yousif Mohammed Sadiq said in August “Extending Barzani term is against the laws in Kurdistan. Law No. 19 passed in 2013 … clearly says the president’s term ends on Aug. 19 and cannot be extended,” Sadiq added.
Political risk analyst Kirk Sowell said in August that “If it were a stable democratic system in Kurdistan, they would just vote him (Barzani) out of office. But it’s not,”
In April 2014, Massoud Barzani has sets condition to leave power, he told Sky News Arabic that he was ready to leave power only if the Kurdish enclave parties reach an agreement over the way to govern Iraq’s autonomous region of Kurdistan.
Source: eKurd
Iraqi Prime Minister Opens Baghdad’s ‘Green Zone’ to Civilians
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced the heavily-fortified area in central Baghdad known as the Green Zone open to all citizens on Sunday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The so-called Green Zone in the center of the capital is housing government buildings and foreign missions.
“The opening of the Green Zone is part of a reform drive promised to our citizens. The process of reform is moving forward, and we will not back down,” Abadi wrote on Twitter.
The territory was closed to the Iraqi people for security reasons after the invasion of coalition forces led by the United States and the United Kingdom in 2003.
Despite the fortification measures, this area has often been the target of terrorist attacks.
Another milestone achievement this evening in line with commitment to reform as the Green Zone in Baghdad is opened to the public
— Haider Al-Abadi (@HaiderAlAbadi) October 4, 2015
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21
- …
- 33
- Next Page »