There were no big New Year’s celebrations for the Iraqi men, women and children who narrowly escaped the fighting in Mosul, only to wait for hours under armed guard while the fighting-age males among them were cleared of links to the Islamic State. The lucky ones would go with their families to one of the wind-swept camps for displaced Iraqis, where they will endure the remainder of northern Iraq’s bitterly cold winter in tents and learn to survive on insufficient supplies of food, heating oil and blankets.
Category: Iraq
Turning Iraq history to rubble, leaving the mess to looters
The giant winged bulls that once stood sentry at the nearly 3,000-year-old palace at Nimrud have been hacked to pieces. The fantastical human-headed creatures were believed to guard the king from evil, but now their stone remains are piled in the dirt, victims of the Islamic State group’s fervor to erase history.
Turning Iraq history to rubble, leaving the mess to looters
This Nov. 19, 2008 photo released by the U.S. Army shows the statues of the lamassu, the winged, human-headed bulls that stood at the gates of the palace and were believed to ward off evil in the ancient city of Nimrud, near Mosul, Iraq. The bulls were destroyed by Islamic State group militants in early 2015 as they razed the entire site, one of the most important archaeological ruins in the Middle East.
Turning Iraq history to rubble, leaving the mess to looters
Iraq archaeologist Layla Salih, left, confers with UNESCO’s representative in Iraq Louse Haxthausen, right, at the ancient site of Nimrud, Iraq, in this Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016 photo. Days after Iraqi forces drove the Islamic State group from Nimrud in November, Salih arrived to survey the damage they wreaked on the nearly 3,000-year-old site.
Agatha Christie had little-known role in ancient Nimrud
This 1949 photo taken by British mystery author Agatha Christie shows a statue of a lamassu, a winged bull from Assyrian mythology who guarded the royal court from evil, at the ancient site of Nimrud, near modern day Mosul, Iraq. Christie had a little-known link to Nimrud: She accompanied her husband, archaeologist Max Mallowan, as he excavated the onetime capital of the Assyrian Empire, and she assisted by piecing together some artifacts and chronicling the dig in photos and film.
Some in Mosul wary of return of Iraq’s government
The 19-year-old resident of Mosul pulled up his shirt and showed a festering wound on his back. It came, he said, from Iraqi troops who detained him for three days and beat him, trying to get him to confess to belong to the Islamic State group.
U.S., Iraqi sources say Islamic State leader Baghdadi alive despite death reports
Though posts on social media in recent weeks suggest Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has died, comments by a U.S. official and reports of his actions in Iraq suggest otherwise. CNN reported there have been few signs of Baghdadi in months and in recent weeks there have been unverified social media reports that he was killed or injured.
Iraqi forces launch second phase of Mosul offensive against ISIL
Iraqi security forces on Dec. 29 began the second phase of their offensive against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants in Mosul, pushing from three directions into eastern districts where the battle has been deadlocked for nearly a month. Since the offensive to capture Mosul began 10 weeks ago, counter-terrorism forces have retaken a quarter of the city, the jihadists’ last major stronghold in Iraq, but their advance has been slow and troops on other fronts have made little progress.
Mosul fight resumes after two-week lull
Iraqi security forces on Thursday resumed an offensive to rid eastern Mosul from the Islamic State after a two-week pause, an Iraqi army official said. Iraqi officials brought in reinforcements to aid the Iraqi army, police and elite counter-terrorism forces during the pause in the offensive.
Iraqi forces in Mosul reinforced, new push against IS soon
Iraqi forces stalled for weeks on the edges of Mosul have been bolstered by reinforcements and are now ready, along with elite special forces, to launch a stepped up, three-pronged assault against Islamic State group militants in the city’s eastern sector, ending a two-week lull in fighting, a top Iraqi general told The Associated Press. The planned assault aims in part to overcome stiff resistance by the militants that has slowed advances in the more than 2-month-old offensive to recapture the northern city, the last main bastion of the Islamic State group in Iraq.
Iraqi forces in Mosul reinforced, new push against IS soon
Iraqi forces stalled for weeks on the edges of Mosul have been bolstered by reinforcements and are now ready, along with elite special forces, to launch a stepped up, three-pronged assault against Islamic State group militants in the city’s eastern sector, ending a two-week lull in fighting, a top Iraqi general told The Associated Press. The planned assault aims in part to overcome stiff resistance by the militants that has slowed advances in the more than 2-month-old offensive to recapture the northern city, the last main bastion of the Islamic State group in Iraq.
Our favourite images from around the world 2016
In this series of year-end galleries our photo editors select their favourite images from around the world in 2016. President Barack Obama shakes hands with President-elect Donald Trump following a meeting in the Oval Office on November 10 in Washington, DC.
A rare visit to the Raqqa front line shows how near – and far – the defeat of ISIS remains
“Raqqa we are coming” say the words spray-painted in Kurdish at the entrance to this empty little town, which lies on the front line of a U.S.-backed advance toward the Islamic State’s capital. The city of Raqqa is 17 miles away, a tantalizingly short hop to the place showcased in the militants’ propaganda videos as an Islamist utopia, where the terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels were planned and where, U.S. officials warn, new plots against the West are being forged.
Iraq PM Haider al-Abadi says needs three months to eliminate IS2 min ago
Baghdad, Dec 27 : Iraq’s premier said today security forces need another three months to eliminate the Islamic State group from the country after launching their offensive against IS in October. “The available data indicate that Iraq requires three months to eliminate Daesh,” Haider al-Abadi told a televised news conference, referring to the jihadist group by an Arabic acronym.
ISIS suicide car bomber OBLITERATED by militants while trying to flee Mosul
Carrying a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device , the suicide bomber gets diverted onto rocky terrain as it’s bombarded by bullets. Iraqi forces are at the start of a large-scale operation to retake Mosul from the Islamic State in the country.
The Final Obama Doctrine: Racking Up the Body Count
During its final years in office, the Obama administration has devised a new form of warfare with major implications for how the U.S. government confronts its enemies. With the ability to quickly locate and eliminate potential adversaries with little to no risk to U.S. forces, the Obama administration has begun to eradicate some of its main enemies in a new kind of exterminatory warfare.
US General: Two More Years to Beat ISIS
It wasn’t that long ago that the Pentagon was talking about taking down ISIS’s strongholds ASAP. Now, victory might not come until late 2018.
U.S. troops join displaced Iraqi Christians for Christmas Eve Mass
BARTELLA, Iraq — For the 300 Christians who braved rain and wind to attend Christmas’s Eve Mass in their hometown, the ceremony evoked both holiday cheer and grim reminders of the war raging around their northern Iraqi town, and the distant prospect of moving back home. Displaced when the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria seized their town, Bartella, in August 2014, the Christians were bused into town from Irbil, capital of the self-ruled Kurdish region where they have lived for more than two years, to attend the lunchtime service in the Assyrian Orthodox church of Mart Shmoni.
Iraqis celebrate first Christmas near Mosul after IS pushed out
India’s demonetisation plan was intended as a way to crack down on illegal activities. But its abrupt implementation has inflicted unnecessarily high costs on the Indian economy.
Trauma of Islamic State follows women after Mosul
Women at a camp for displaced Iraqis recall rape and torture in their former home of Mosul. Matthew Larotonda reports.
Iraq bombs kill 23, disrupt return to normal life in Mosul
Zaid Ahmed’s barber shop in the Gogjali district of Mosul was packed with customers Thursday when the first of three car bombs ripped through the outdoor food market outside. Ahmed was unharmed, but when he made a dash for safety, the second blast hit.
Displaced Iraqis from Mosul leave ‘indescribable’ camps
Displaced Iraqis living in a camp say their living condition is ”indescribable,” with many returning to their homes in Mosul areas recently recaptured from Islamic State by the army. Nathan Frandino reports.
Iraq: Car bombings in Mosul kill 15 civilians, 8 policemen
Three car bombs ripped through an outdoor market in Mosul on Thursday, killing at least 15 civilians and eight policemen, the Iraqi Defense Ministry said in a statement. The attack occurred in the eastern district of Gogjali, which Iraqi forces retook from Islamic State militants weeks ago as part of a massive operation to drive them from Mosul, the brief statement said.
Army captain thanks Torrance schoolchildren who a adopteda his unit in Iraq
US Army Ranger captain Michael Wechsler was welcomed home by students Friday December 16, 2016, at Torrance’s Yukon Elementary where he was once a student. Capt.
Military aims to stop ISILa s a spillagea outside of Iraq, Syria
Two Canadian military teams are in Lebanon and Jordan as the international community searches for ways to keep the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant from spreading once the city of Mosul falls. Senior military commanders have warned that victory in Iraq’s second-largest city will not mark the end of ISIL as a threat, but that the group will instead go underground and resort to suicide attacks and similar tactics.