Donald Trump has accused Iran of orchestrating an attack on the US embassy in Baghdad after dozens of Iraqi Shia militia supporters broke into its compound. Video from the scene shows protesters climbing over the wall of the embassy and setting fires
Continue reading...Category Archives: Iraq
Aftermath of US airstrike on Kata’ib Hezbollah militia in Iraq – video
The US military carried out airstrikes on Sunday against the Iranian-backed Kata'ib Hezbollah militia in response to the killing of an American civilian contractor in a rocket attack on a US military base in Iraq. An Iraqi militia leader warned of a strong response after airstrikes in Iraq and Syria killed at least 25 people overnight. This footage shows the aftermath of a strike on Kata'ib Hezbollah's headquarters in the Iraqi town of Qaim
Continue reading...US military carries out ‘defensive strikes’ in Iraq and Syria
Offensive on Kata’ib Hezbollah sites comes after rocket attack on Iraqi military base blamed on militia group
The US military has carried out what the Pentagon described as “defensive strikes” in Iraq and Syria against the Kata’ib Hezbollah militia group, two days after a US civilian contractor was killed in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base.
The Pentagon said it targeted three locations of the Iranian-backed Shia Muslim militia group in Iraq and two in Syria. The sites included weapons storage facilities and command and control locations Kata’ib Hezbollah had used to plan and execute attacks on coalition forces.
Continue reading...US isolationism leaves Middle East on edge as new decade dawns
With Trump deciding against protecting allies, old rivalries are converging across the region
Throughout the Middle East’s modern history, a constant remained – the US held a prominent stake and would throw its weight around to protect its interests and allies. The maxim held true as ideologies rose and fell, Gulf monarchies, Israel, and Arab nationalist police states took root – and war and insurrection periodically raged.
But it ended during Donald Trump’s third year, a time when an isolationist, unworldly president began to see regional interests through a much narrower lens. The effect has been profound and 2020 will continue the process of recalibration by traditional friends of the US without a country whose clout they used to defer to and whose agenda they could more or less understand.
Continue reading...Defiant protesters back in Baghdad square within an hour of slaughter
Demonstrators grow ever more determined to force real political change in Iraq despite a bloody crackdown which left over 20 dead
The gunshots emptied protesters from Baghdad’s Khilani square in minutes, but as nearby streets filled with the crush of people running for their lives, two men stayed on, waving a vast Shia banner in defiance of the bloodshed around them.
The pair must have known they were in the gunmen’s crosshairs, and soon one of them crumpled, hit by a bullet. But their determination to continue was a powerful message to authorities and militias trying to crush Iraq’s popular uprising by force.
Continue reading...Over a dozen killed in Baghdad when gunmen open fire on protesters
Attack follows mass stabbings in Tahrir Square, a focus of the anti-government movement
At least 14 people were killed and more than 40 others wounded when gunmen in cars opened fire on a protest camp in Baghdad, sending people running for cover in nearby mosques. Three of the victims were police officers.
The attacks on Friday came a day after a string of suspicious stabbing incidents left at least 13 wounded in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, the centre of Iraq’s leaderless protest movement.
Continue reading...Iraq risks breakup as tribes take on Iran’s militias in ‘blood feud’
Unrest spreads after security forces fire on protesters and anger at Tehran’s influence increases
Iraq’s parliament will today begin the process of electing a new leader after the prime minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, resigned last week. His successor will have to cope with the severe unrest that is spreading across the country and which has pitched security forces against demonstrators for nearly two months. Fears are mounting that the country could unravel altogether.
Security forces killed at least 45 civilians who were protesting around the southern city of Nasiriyah on Thursday in one of the worst incidents in the recent outbreak of anti-government protests. The government’s actions were intended to be a show of brute force following the firebombing of the Iranian consulate in Najaf on Wednesday, an attack that was the strongest expression yet of the anti-Iranian sentiment by the Iraqi demonstrators.
Continue reading...Iraqi PM says he will resign after weeks of violent protests
Adel Abdul-Mahdi’s move comes after call for change of leadership from top cleric
The Iraqi prime minister has announced his resignation after the country’s top Shia Muslim cleric called for lawmakers to reconsider their support for a government rocked by weeks of deadly anti-establishment unrest.
“In response to this call, and in order to facilitate it as quickly as possible, I will present to parliament a demand [to accept] my resignation from the leadership of the current government,” a statement signed by Adel Abdul-Mahdi said.
Continue reading...Protesters set fire to Iranian consulate amid growing unrest in Iraq – video
Anti-government protesters have set fire to the Iranian consulate in Najaf, accusing the Shia-led government of corruption and complaining of poor public services and high unemployment. They are also decrying growing Iranian influence in Iraqi state affairs
Continue reading...Protesters burn down Iranian consulate in southern Iraq
Six demonstrators killed by security forces as violence grips the country
Anti-government protesters have burned down the Iranian consulate in southern Iraq, while six protesters were killed by security forces who fired live rounds amid ongoing violence in the country.
Related: How street protests across Middle East threaten Iran’s power
Continue reading...Murals of Baghdad: the art of protest – in pictures
Protests against the Iraqi government have drawn a deadly response from security forces. With 300 lives lost in less than two months, demonstrators are now taking spray paint to concrete walls in an attempt to sketch out their vision for a brighter future. Artists, many of them young women, have transformed a tunnel leading to Tahrir Square into a revolutionary art gallery
Arabic translation by Rana Haddad
Continue reading...How street protests across Middle East threaten Iran’s power
Demonstrations from Baghdad to Beirut reveal the extent to which Shia dominance across the region has weakened
Turmoil in Baghdad, paralysis in Beirut and flames of unrest in Tehran; it has been a bad few months for Iran at home and elsewhere in the Middle East, where more than a decade of advances are being slowed, not by manoeuvrings on battlefields or legislatures – but the force of protest movements.
Early last week, Iran went dark for four days by closing its internet connections down. Even for the country’s autocratic leadership, this was a drastic step. But such are the stakes for a regime that is increasingly facing obstacles across its hubs of Shia influence. And those who laud Iran’s rise, as well as those who fear it, sense it is at a loss over how to respond.
Continue reading...Mike Pence makes unannounced visit to Iraq
- Visit meant to reassure US allies in fight against Isis
- Pence is highest-level American to travel there since withdrawal
Mike Pence made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Saturday, the highest-level American to visit since Donald Trump ordered a pullback of US forces in neighbouring Syria two months ago.
Related: Trump says FBI tried to 'overthrow the presidency'
Continue reading...British government and army accused of covering up war crimes
Alleged evidence implicates UK troops in murder of children in Afghanistan and Iraq
The UK government and the British army have been accused of covering up the killing of children in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Leaked documents allegedly contain evidence implicating troops in killing children and the torture of civilians.
Continue reading...The US and Britain face no existential threat. So why do their wars go on? | Simon Jenkins
Endless conflicts in the Middle East have cost us dear, yet all we hear are absurdities about ‘keeping our streets safe from terror’
Why does no one mention the war? The most militaristic, belligerent and chauvinist country I know – and also love – is the US. People fly flags from every post and see “bad guys” under every bed. When the president, Donald Trump, vows to leave the Middle East he is condemned as a traitor even by his fans.
The second most belligerent is Britain, albeit less so. With America, it is continuing to fight the so-called “wars of 9/11”, 18 years after they began – battling in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, in Britain’s case covertly. There is not the remotest sign of “victory” in sight. Somehow they are not seen as wars, just the licensed killing of foreigners.
Continue reading...Young Kurdish feminists make me hopeful for the future of the region
A conference on sexual violence in Iraqi Kurdistan has given women an overdue opportunity to voice their experiences
When I received an email from the Kurdish feminist writer and activist Houzan Mahmoud, asking if I would speak at the first conference on sexual violence against women and girls to be held in Iraqi Kurdistan, I could barely contain my excitement.
Mahmoud, a campaigner for Kurdish and Iraqi women’s rights – “honour” killings, the rape and abduction of women in Iraq and the imposition of Islamic sharia law are among the areas she tackles – was supporting the Sofia Society, a group of roughly 40 young feminists.
Continue reading...Iraqi security forces open fire on protesters in fatal clashes in Baghdad – video
Clashes have erupted in Iraq's capital as security personnel fired live rounds and used water cannon to dispel thousands of demonstrators who defied a plea from the prime minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, to suspend their protests. Reuters reported that at least five people had been killed
Continue reading...Iraqi PM calls on protesters to reopen roads after civil unrest
Adil Abdul-Mahdi says ongoing protests in Baghdad have cost the country billions of dollars
Iraq’s prime minister called on anti-government protesters to reopen roads on Sunday after a month of major rallies to demand wide-ranging political change.
Adil Abdul-Mahdi called for markets, factories, schools and universities to reopen after days of protests in the capital and across the mostly Shia south. He said the threat to oil facilities and the closure of roads had cost the country billions of dollars and contributed to price increases that affected everyone.
Continue reading...Anti-government demonstrations in Iraq swell as protesters defy teargas – video
Tens of thousands took to the streets of Baghdad on Friday under clouds of teargas to demand the removal of the elected government in the biggest protest movement in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein. The city’s Tahrir Square was a chaotic scene of flag-waving demonstrators battling with security forces, while tuk-tuks ferried off wounded dissenters as riot police fired teargas.
Amnesty International this week accused Iraqi security chiefs of using military grade teargas – up to 10 times more powerful than that typically used for crowd control – to try to quell the unrest
Continue reading...‘Fear factor is broken’: protesters demand removal of Iraqi government
Crowds of dissenters in central Baghdad want Iranian influence banished from Iraqi politics
The biggest protest movement in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein has pressed its demand for the removal of the elected government, staring down an embattled political elite and the widespread influence of Iran.
Friday’s rallies of tens of thousands came a day after supporters of Iraq’s embattled leader, Adil Abdul Mahdi, believed they had won the backing of one of two powerful figures that threatened his premiership, a development that appeared to stabilise his position on Thursday.
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