Saddam’s eldest daughter Raghad on most wanted list
The Iraqi government has placed the name of late Saddam Hussein’s daughter, Raghad, on the most wanted list, together with 59 other individuals. The 60 people are wanted on suspicion of belonging to the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS), al-Qaeda or the Baath Party. The list, seen by AFP, […]
UN: Millions of Iraqi Children Affected by Conflict, Poverty Face Grim Future
The U.N. children’s fund warns that millions of Iraqi children affected by conflict and poverty face a grim future and are in desperate need of international support. UNICEF says that in Iraq more than four million children, about one quarter of all Iraqi children, live in poverty. Most of these children, it says, are scarred […]
Iraqi general: War with ISIL is over
An Iraqi senior military commander said his country’s war against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group is over. In an announcement on Saturday, Lt General Abdul-Amir Rasheed Yar Allah said that armed operations against the fighters have ended after Iraqi forces regained control of the country’s border with Syria. “All Iraqi lands […]
Iraqi army completely surrounds ISIL in Mosul
The Iraqi army says it has completely surrounded fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group in Mosul as it continues to make gains in its final push to retake the city. According to the military, federal police units recaptured the last bridge over the Tigris River on Saturday, effectively cutting […]
Dozens of Yazidi ‘slaves’ rescued by Iraqi troops
A group of 36 Yazidi survivors has been rescued in Iraq after three years of “slavery” under ISIL’s rule in northern Iraq, the United Nations said on Sunday. The group of men, women, and children from the persecuted religious sect was freed by Iraqi forces fighting to retake Mosul from Islamic State of Iraq and […]
UN: 4,000 civilians flee Mosul each day amid fighting
Intense battles between Iraqi security forces and ISIL fighters in Mosul are causing increasing numbers of displaced people, with 4,000 civilians fleeing the city each day, according to the United Nations. More than 28,000 people have been forced from their homes since a coalition of US-backed Iraqi forces launched an offensive on February 19 to […]
Iraqi Forces Control Key Mosul Bridge
Iraqi forces on Monday seized control of a key bridge in the city of Mosul, as they push forward with their week-old offensive to clear Islamic State militants from the western side of the city. Officials said pro-government forces were in control of what is known as the fourth bridge, or the southernmost bridge across […]
Iraqi forces launch assault on ISIL positions in western Mosul
Iraq’s Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, has announced the start of an operation to uproot ISIL militants from western Mosul. With backing from the US, Iraqi Army planes are said to have dropped millions of leaflets into the jihadists’ stronghold, to warn local residents of an imminent assault. Joel Millman, a spokesperson for the UN’s International […]
Two girls can barely hold back tears as they wait to find out if their Iraqi mother will be allowed into the United States
Jack Smith, a reporter for Mic, has been on the ground at JFK National Airport in New York as thousands of protesters call for the release of detained citizens coming from Middle Eastern countries. Earlier in the week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that banned travel into the United States from Syria and […]
Francois Hollande in Iraq to review war on ISIL
French President Francois Hollande has arrived in Baghdad to meet the French forces helping Iraq in the fight against ISIL and to hold talks with top officials. Hollande, who was travelling with French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, had already visited in 2014 and remains the most prominent head of state to come to Iraq […]