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At least 75% of ISIS fighters have been killed during the campaign of US-led airstrikes, according to US officials. The US anti-ISIS envoy said the campaign has winnowed ISIS' ranks to between 12,000 and 15,000 "battle ready" fighters, a top US official said on Tuesday.
Islamic State militants re-entered the historic city of Palmyra in central Syria on Saturday for the first time since they were expelled by Syrian and Russian forces nine months ago. The activist-run Palmyra Coordination network said the militants had nearly encircled the city and entered its northern and northwestern neighborhoods.
The problem? Iraqi Kurdistan is a province of Iraq, and the central government in Baghdad claims that petroleum discovered in Iraqi Kurdistan is under the control of the Baghdad Ministry of Petroleum. The attempt of Iraqi Kurdistan to export petroleum to the US without going through Baghdad created an immediate court case.
A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle approaches a KC-135 Stratotanker in support of a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve mission over Iraq, Dec. 7, 2016. The KC-135 provides aerial refueling capabilities as the task force supports the Iraqi security forces and the partnered forces in Syria as they work to liberate territory and people under the control of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Iraqi soldiers pose with the Islamic State flag along a street of the town of al-Shura, which was recaptured from Islamic State , south of Mosul, Iraq October 30, 2016. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo The Islamic State's named its new spokesman Monday, and his first statement offers a chilling threat against the West while the terrorist group's two capital cities are under siege.
A member of Shi'ite fighters carries a weapon during a battle with Islamic State militants at the airport of Tal Afar west of Mosul, Iraq November 18, 2016. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani The Iraqi House of Representatives last week approved an Act legitimizing the so-called Popular Mobilization Forces , the pro-Iranian militias accused of acts of barbarism and brutality in Fallujah, Ramadi and Mosul.
Civil wars, proxy wars, energy wars and a war on ISIS. When US President-elect Donald Trump, takes office in January, he will face numerous challenges in the Middle East.
Tehran has taken nearly full control over Baghdad thanks to the Obama Middle East Doctrine , blueprinted to deliver a series of incentives to Iran aimed at preventing the mullahs from walking away from the already flawed nuclear deal . One victim of such a failed policy has been the country of Iraq, as Iran gained enormous influence over it under President Barack Obama's watch.
Problematic shortfalls arising from a stopgap spending bill would occur in the Pentagon's operations and maintenance and training and equipment, according to the Defense Department's comptroller. The Pentagon comptroller has warned Congress that continuing to rely on stopgap spending bills will undermine U.S. forces in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a memo exclusively obtained by CQ Roll Call.
PIC: An Iraqi man pushes his mother on a wheelbarrow as they flee to an area held by the Iraqi Special Forces 2nd division in the Samah neighbourhood of Mosul during an ongoing operation against Islamic State group jihadists. Hundreds of people used the opportunity to get out of harm's way during a period of relative calm on the frontline neighbourhoods of eastern Mosul.
Travis unveiled part of its efforts last week to support the campaign to retake Mosul, according to a base press release. Specifically, it used nine C-5s from the 22nd Air Mobility Squadron in May to haul U.S. Army bridge erection boats from Travis to Iraq to help repair damaged bridges in the area around Mosul.
It was on his last mission, when he was working for the psychological operations division in the US Marine Corps, that his vehicle ran over a roadside bomb. His body was on fire, and when he got out of the vehicle he was shot four times.
A fighter of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant holds an ISIL flag and a weapon on a street in the city of Mosul, June 23, 2014. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held crisis talks with leaders of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region on Tuesday urging them to stand with Baghdad in the face of a Sunni insurgent onslaught that threatens to dismember the country.
Navarro: Trump is a shameless racist - CNN Video - CNN.com Ana Navarro: 'Trump has turned the Oval Office into a s---hole' | TheHill Ana Navarro: I'm voting for Hillary Clinton and against Donald Trump ... " Iraq snapshot " : There is a lot of energy vested in the US State Dept -- therefore also in the US press -- for this round of elections to be seen as a success and a confirmation of something. But the spin suffered a blow this week when Mohamed Haidar resigned as Vice Chair of the Elections Committee.
The start of the assault by the Syrian Democratic Forces came as Iraqi forces fought inside Mosul for the third day running amid fierce jihadist resistance. The two cities are the last major urban centres under IS control after the jihadists suffered a string of territorial losses in Iraq and Syria over the past year.
A spokesman for Iraqi special forces has told the BBC that they have pushed through the front line of Islamic State fighters into the city of Mosul, the terror group's last stronghold in Iraq. Sabah al-Numan said many IS fighters had been killed but his troops had not suffered any losses.
JUST ONE MORE WEEK The FBI has begun " loading a trove of emails belonging to [Huma Abedin] into a special computer program that would allow bureau analysts to determine whether they contain classified information." The White House defended FBI Director James Comey's character , but that's it.
Iraqi troops approaching Mosul from the south advanced into Shura on Saturday after a wave of U... . Iraqi Federal Police officers observe as air and ground strikes hit the town of Shura, some 30 kilometers south of Mosul, Iraq, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016.
Up until at least Nov. 8, the nation's attention will doubtless be focused on the "war" inside the country -- the tumultuous political conflict ripping us to pieces. But I am constantly amazed at how little attention we give to the wars outside that one can easily argue were the roots of the profound divisions and infantile diversions we so unhappily live with today.
There is no telling exactly what the joint force of Iraqi Army and Kurdish Peshmerga troops will encounter in their effort to reclaim IS's last stronghold in Iraq, an operation that is expected to take weeks or even months. But aid groups, working in cooperation with Baghdad and Kurdish regional government authorities, have prepared for the worst.