Iraqi aviation authorities were left stunned after a 10-year-old child boarded an Iran-bound jet on his own from a busy airport in a Shiite shrine city following various security checks. The international airport in Najaf, south of Baghdad, announced Wednesday that it would examine security after the boy slipped through seven checks and mixed in … Read more
The Turkish defence ministry announced on Wednesday that five Turkish troops were killed in northern Iraq on Tuesday as part of operations against Kurdish insurgents. Another two troops were injured in the firefight, according to the ministry statement, which did not specify the location of the confrontation. According to a previous military count, three troops … Read more
Three Turkish soldiers serving in northern Iraq as part of operations against Kurdish militants were killed Tuesday, the defense ministry announced. Another four soldiers were wounded during the fighting, said the ministry statement, which did not say where the clash took place. Turkey’s official news agency Anadolu said the Turkish soldiers had clashed with fighters … Read more
Three Turkish soldiers were killed Tuesday while serving in northern Iraq as part of operations against Kurdish militants, according to the defense ministry. Another four soldiers were injured during the fighting, according to the ministry statement, which did not specify where the clash occurred. According to Anadolu, Turkey’s official news agency, Turkish soldiers clashed with … Read more
Iraq closed public buildings and temporarily closed airports on Monday as another sandstorm hit the country, the ninth since mid-April. More than 1,000 people were hospitalized across the country with respiratory problems, according to Seif al-Badr, spokesman for the health ministry. Flights were also grounded for the second time this month in neighboring Kuwait, as … Read more
Gunmen killed a member of Iran‘s Revolutionary Guards on Sunday, in Tehran’s east, according to state news agency IRNA. According to IRNA, “Sayyad Khodai… was assassinated during a gun attack carried out by two motorcyclists in Tehran’s Mohahedin-e Eslam Street.” The agency referred to him as a “defender of the sanctuary,” a term used to … Read more
After a defence counsel requested more research, an Iraqi judge deferred the trial of a British man and a German man accused of attempting to smuggle artefacts for two weeks. James Fitton, 66, a retired British geologist, and Volker Waldmann, 60, a Berlin psychologist, have been in custody since they were arrested on March 20 … Read more
Awatef Massud longs to see her Iraqi family after years spent in Syria, but first she must spend time in a vetting camp to ensure she has no ties to jihadists. The 35-year-old mother of five fled to neighboring Syria in 2014 to escape domestic violence as the Islamic State group swept across large swaths of … Read more
Drone strikes targeting Kurdish rebels killed at least five people, including two civilians, in northern Iraq, Local officials and Kurdish militants reported Saturday that blaming Turkey for the attack. Turkey regularly assaults facilities and training camps of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq. Officials say Saturday’s drone strikes targeted mountainous parts of … Read more
HAMRIN, Iraq: A top official warned Friday that Iraq’s Lake Hamrin, a once-vast reservoir northeast of Baghdad that is the only source of water for irrigation in Diyala province, is practically dry. The source told AFP that years of low rainfall and a severe decline in the flow of water down the Sirwan River from … Read more
George W Bush condemns Ukraine invasion and mistakenly says Iraq Previous US President George W Bush erroneously depicted the Iraq battle as “severe” and “inappropriate” as he conveyed a discourse on Russia’s attack of Ukraine. Mr Bush made the faux pas during a discourse in Texas in which he targeted Russia’s political framework. He told … Read more
A German woman who joined the Islamic State group in Syria as a 15-year-old was sentenced to two years in prison suspended On Wednesday, but cleared of aiding and abetting crimes against humanity. Leonora Messing, now 22, was found guilty of terrorist organization membership by judges, according to a spokesman for the Naumburg higher regional court. … Read more
The world’s tallest building disappeared behind a grey layer of dust on Wednesday as sandstorms swept through the Middle East, prompting weather and traffic warnings. The 828-metre (2,716-foot-6-inch) Burj Khalifa, which towers over Dubai and is usually visible across the busy financial hub, has receded behind an airborne dirt curtain that has shrouded much of … Read more
Another sandstorm pounded Iraq on Monday, sending at least 4,000 people to the hospital with breathing problems and shutting down airports, schools, and government offices across the country. Iraq has been hit by soil degradation, extreme droughts, and low rainfall linked to climate change, and this is the eighth dust storm to slam the country since … Read more
Another sandstorm hit Iraq on Monday, causing the closure of airports, schools, universities, and government offices across the country, according to officials. Iraq has been pounded by soil degradation, extreme droughts, and low rainfall linked to climate change, and this is the ninth duststorm to slam the country since mid-April. The most recent one, earlier … Read more
A Briton and a German man accused of having antique pottery fragments in their luggage testified in Iraq on Sunday that they had no intention of breaking the law. For the two-hour hearing at a Baghdad criminal court, James Fitton, a retired British geologist, and Volker Waldmann, a Berlin psychologist, dressed in the yellow detainee clothing. … Read more
Iraqi authorities have exhumed the remains of 15 people from a mass grave believed to hold dozens more likely killed under Dictator Saddam Hussein, an official said Saturday. The mass grave was first discovered in April near the southern city of Najaf, during work to build a residential compound. It is believed to date back … Read more
The global coalition fighting the Islamic State group met in Morocco on Wednesday to coordinate efforts to prevent the jihadists from staging a comeback in the Middle East and North Africa. The meeting was supposed to be co-hosted by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, but Washington’s top diplomat … Read more
BAGHDAD: Iraqi soldiers killed nine Islamic State militants in Kirkuk, Iraq’s northern region, on Wednesday, according to the Iraqi military. The Iraqi military surrounded nine militants holed up in a tunnel near Kraw Mountain, some 250 kilometres north of Baghdad, and blasted the tunnel, killing all nine militants inside, according to the Iraqi Joint Operations … Read more
BAGHDAD: Iraqi health officials reported Tuesday that at least 12 people have died from Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever since the beginning of the year, despite efforts to stop the illness from spreading. “The total number of cases of haemorrhagic fever is 55, including 12 recorded deaths,”said Seif al-Badr, a spokesman for the health ministry. According to … Read more
The daughter of a retired British geologist who is still detained after allegedly attempting to transport rare relics out of Iraq has expressed her “heartbreak and fear” that her father, who missed her wedding due to the uproar, may face the death penalty. Leila Fitton’s wedding was postponed due to the COVID-19 epidemic, and she … Read more
Kamel Hamed, an Iraqi farmer, stares at the golden ears of wheat flapping in the breeze, unable to conceal his distress over the scorching heat that is decimating his harvest. “The drought is unbelievable,” said the 53-year-old in a white dishdasha robe and keffiyeh head covering at his farm in Jaliha village of central Diwaniya … Read more
Iraqi authorities said one person died on Friday, as cases of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever expanded to Iraq’s north, Since the beginning of the year, Iraq has recorded eight deaths from 40 cases of the ailment, also known as Congo fever, according to health ministry spokesperson Seif al-Badr. Health authorities in Kirkuk, north of Baghdad, announced … Read more
A sandstorm killed one person in Iraq on Thursday, while more than 5,000 people were treated in hospitals for respiratory illnesses, the health ministry reported. In a statement, health ministry spokesperson Seif al-Badr said that “one death has been recorded in Baghdad” and that hospitals “had received no less than 5,000 cases so far,” … Read more
More than 1,000 Iraqis were brought to hospitals with respiratory illnesses on Thursday as a result of a sandstorm, the country’s eighth in less than a month, according to official media. Residents in six of Iraq’s 18 provinces were awakened to a heavy cloud of dust blanketing the sky, including Baghdad and the huge western … Read more
An official from Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region said Tuesday that fighting between the Iraqi army and Yazidi fighters connected with Turkey’s banned separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has uprooted thousands. The Yazidis are a Kurdish-speaking non-Arab, non-Muslim minority who were massacred by Islamic State group jihadists in 2014. Clashes left one Iraqi soldier dead on … Read more
Six rockets landed Sunday in northern Iraq’s independent Kurdistan region, Kurdish counter-terrorism forces said, with “minor damage” pronounced at a key oil refinery, in step with a separate protection source. “Six rockets fell near the Zab river within the Khabat district,” Kurdish counter-terrorism forces said in an announcement, without specifying the goal of the attack. … Read more
Iraq was once again blanketed in a thick layer of orange dust on Sunday, the latest in a series of dust storms that have become increasingly prevalent. Dozens of people were hospitalized in the country’s center and west due to respiratory difficulties. A heavy layer of orange dust fell across streets and automobiles in Baghdad, … Read more
