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Iraq
President Barack Obama has authorized targeted air strikes against Islamic militants in northern Iraq but will not send US troops back to the country.
Barack Obama said Islamic State (IS) fighters would be targeted to prevent the slaughter of religious minorities or if they threaten US interests.
No strikes have been made yet but the US has made humanitarian air drops to Iraqis under threat from the militants.
IS has seized Qaraqosh, Iraq’s biggest Christian town, forcing locals to flee.
The Sunni Muslim group, formerly known as Isis, has been gaining ground in northern Iraq since it launched its onslaught in June.
It now controls large swathes of Iraq and Syria and says it has created an Islamic caliphate in its territory.
Speaking at the White House on Thursday evening, Barack Obama said US military aircraft had dropped food and water to members of the Yazidi religious minority community trapped on Mount Sinjar by IS fighters.
Barack Obama has authorized two operations against Islamic militants in northern Iraq
Officials had warned that the Yazidis faced starvation and dehydration if they remained on the mountain, and slaughter at the hands of the IS if they fled.
Barack Obama said the US could not turn a “blind eye” to the prospect of violence “on a horrific scale”, especially when the Iraqi government had requested assistance.
The president said the US would act “carefully and responsibly, to prevent a potential act of genocide”.
US air strikes would target IS fighters, should they threaten Baghdad or move towards Irbil, where there is a significant presence of US diplomats and military advisers, Barack Obama said.
In addition, he authorized strikes “if necessary” to help Iraqi government forces break the siege at Mount Sinjar and rescue the trapped civilians.
“The only lasting solution is reconciliation among Iraqi communities and stronger Iraqi security forces,” Barack Obama added.
The president spoke hours after the UN Security Council met. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was “deeply appalled” by the situation.
As many as 100,000 Christians are believed to have fled their homes ahead of the IS advance, and most of them are thought to have gone toward the autonomous Kurdistan Region.
Kurdish forces, known as the Peshmerga, have been fighting the IS militants’ advance in the area around Qaraqosh for weeks, but on Wednesday night it appeared they had abandoned their posts.
Last month, hundreds of Christian families fled nearby Mosul after the Islamist rebels gave them an ultimatum to convert to Islam, pay a special tax, or be executed.
Iraq is home to one of the world’s most ancient Christian communities, but numbers have dwindled amid growing sectarian violence since the US-led invasion in 2003.
About 50,000 Yazidis, meanwhile, are thought to have been trapped in the mountains after fleeing the town of Sinjar over the weekend – although the UN says some of them have now been rescued.
Almost 200,000 civilians have been displaced from Sinjar town, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has warned.
Those trapped on the mountain are facing dehydration, and 40 children are reported to have died already.
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More than 25% of Iraq’s Christians are reported to be fleeing after Islamic militants seized Qaraqosh, the minority’s biggest town in the country.
The Islamic State (IS) group captured Qaraqosh in Nineveh province overnight after the withdrawal of Kurdish forces.
Meanwhile, the UN says some of the 50,000 members of the Yazidi religious minority trapped by IS on Mount Sinjar have been rescued.
IS controls parts of Iraq and Syria and says it has created an Islamic state.
Nineveh, located 250 miles north-west of Baghdad, is home to a large number of religious minorities.
Up to a quarter of Iraq’s Christians are reported to be fleeing after Islamic militants seized Qaraqosh
Tens of thousands have been forced to flee since the Islamist rebels launched their onslaught in the north in June.
A majority of Nineveh inhabitants left their homes overnight, according to Fraternite en Irak, an international Christian organization based in Paris.
As many as 100,000 people are believed to be fleeing toward the autonomous Kurdistan Region.
Kurdish forces, known as the Peshmerga, have been fighting the IS militants’ advance for weeks.
The Peshmerga’s commander in Qaraqosh reportedly told the town’s archbishop late on Wednesday that the forces were abandoning their posts.
Several senior clergymen in Nineveh confirmed the town had fallen.
“It’s a catastrophe, a tragic situation: tens of thousands of terrified people are being displaced as we speak,” said Joseph Thomas, the Chaldean archbishop of the northern city of Kirkuk.
Eyewitnesses in Qaraqosh said IS militants were taking down crosses in churches and burning religious manuscripts.
The town – referred to as Iraq’s Christian capital – is located 20 miles south-east of the city of Mosul, which was captured by IS in June.
Last month, hundreds of Christian families fled Mosul after the Islamist rebels gave them an ultimatum to convert to Islam or face death.
Iraq is home to one of the world’s most ancient Christian communities, but numbers have dwindled amid growing sectarian violence since the US-led invasion in 2003.
An air strike in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul has killed at least 30 people, reports say.
Some of those killed were being held by the Islamic State (IS) militants.
Iraqi state TV reported that at least 60 militants were killed and about 300 detainees were able to escape.
Kurdish Peshmerga forces were also reportedly shelling eastern districts of Mosul and an area to the north-east on Wednesday.
Earlier, a senior Kurdish official warned that 50,000 members of the Yazidi religious minority trapped in mountains to the west faced death if they were not rescued soon.
At least 30 people have been killed in an air strike in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul
The Yazidis fled to the mountains with little food or water after fighters from IS – previously known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) – overran the town of Sinjar at the weekend.
“Urgent international action is needed to save them. Many of them – mainly the elderly, children and pregnant women – have died,” Jabbar Yawar, secretary-general of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) ministry in charge of the Peshmerga, told the Reuters news agency.
On Tuesday, the UN said it had received credible reports that 40 Yazidi children had died “as a direct consequence of violence, displacement and dehydration” since Sunday.
Iraqi army helicopters were reportedly delivering food and water to the area on Wednesday.
Sinjar fell during an offensive that saw the IS and its allies seize several other towns in the north-west, an oil field and Iraq’s biggest dam, inflicting a humiliating defeat on the Peshmerga.
A senior official in Iraqi President Jalal Talabani’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) said fighters from the Syria-based Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Turkish Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) had launched a counter-offensive.
“The fighters of [the PYD] and the PKK are responsible for confronting [the Islamic State] in Rabia and the Sinjar area,” Hallo Penjweny told the AFP news agency.
“On our side, we are taking care of Zumar and the rest of the area north and east of Mosul.”
Ties were strained by the KRG’s decision to send Peshmerga forces into disputed areas of northern Iraq in June after soldiers abandoned their posts in the face of the IS advance; a push by Kurdish leaders for an independence referendum; and PM Nouri Maliki’s claim in July that they were giving sanctuary to extremists.
Emirates has decided to suspend flights over Iraq to protect against the threat of Islamic militants on the ground.
The airline was taking “precautionary measures” and “working on alternative routing plans for flights using Iraqi airspace”.
The move follows the Malaysian Airlines’ Flight MH17 disaster. MH17 was shot down while flying over Ukraine.
Emirates said it is already re-routing some flights.
It will take a few days for the re-routing to be completed, the airline added.
Emirates has decided to suspend flights over Iraq to protect against the threat of Islamic militants on the ground (photo Emirates)
“We are closely monitoring the situation along with international agencies, and will never compromise the safety of our customers and crew,” said Emirates.
Emirates’ president Sir Tim Clark told The Times MH17 “changed everything” and it was “very nearly in European airspace”.
Tim Clark said he thought other airlines would follow.
He predicted the airline industry would start to look at how it assessed the danger of flying over conflict zones.
Tim Clark said he was “not comfortable” with the situation in Iraq, as fighting in the country intensifies.
The MH17 disaster is largely attributed to a missile fired on the ground in Ukraine by pro-Russian rebels, although Russia has blamed the Ukrainian government.
Emirates’ president told The Times greater intelligence from the government about the safety of airspace would be welcome.
At least 29 people have been killed after gunmen have stormed two buildings in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, officials say.
Twenty of those killed were said to be women.
The attack took place late on Saturday, July 12, in the neighborhood of Zayouna in east Baghdad, police said. One officer said he “found bodies everywhere”.
At least 29 people have been killed after gunmen have stormed two buildings in Baghdad’s neighborhood of Zayouna
The motive for the killings is not clear. No group has said it carried out the attack.
Reports said the two buildings were suspected to be brothels.
According to AFP, writing left on the door of one of the buildings read: “This is the fate of any prostitution.”
Locals in Zayouna have accused Shia militias of killing women thought to be prostitutes, Reuters news agency reported. The neighborhood is a mixed district of Sunni and Shia Muslims.
Prostitution is prohibited under Islam, the dominant religion in Iraq.
Iraq is experiencing an upsurge in instability as government forces battle an Islamist insurgency led by the jihadist Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), which has seized huge swathes of the country’s north-west and closed in on cities near Baghdad.
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A caliphate is an Islamic state ruled by a single political and religious leader, or Caliph.
Caliphs are regarded by their followers as successors to the Prophet Muhammad and the leader of all Muslims.
The word “caliph” comes from the Arabic khalifa, meaning “successor”. Its use means the IS claims Baghdadi as the only legitimate successor to the Prophet.
Abdulmecid II was the last Sunni Caliph of Islam from the Ottoman Dynasty (photo flickr.com)
First caliphate came into being after Prophet Muhammad’s death in 632. In the centuries which followed, caliphates had dominion in the Middle East and North Africa.
Historically, caliphates involved governance under Islamic law, with the leadership elected according to Sunni practice and selected from a group of Imams under Shia traditions.
Laws under a caliphate are traditionally defined in accordance with Islamic ethics. In the past the role of caliph has largely been symbolic, leaving the day-to-day running of government down to the devolved powers of local rulers.
The last widely accepted caliphate was abolished in 1924 by Turkish leader Kemal Ataturk after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Abdulmecid II was the last ruler of a caliphate.
In 2014, Islamist militant group ISIS has declared caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria, appointing its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as Caliph.
ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has called on Muslims to obey him, in his first video sermon.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been appointed caliph by the jihadist group, which has seized large swathes of Iraq and Syria.
The video appears to have been filmed on Friday during a sermon at the al-Nouri Mosque in Mosul, northern Iraq.
The footage surfaced on Saturday amid reports that he had been killed or wounded in an Iraqi air raid.
ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has called on Muslims to obey him, in his first video sermon (photo AFP)
It was not clear when the attack was supposed to have taken place.
In the sermon, at Mosul’s most famous landmark, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi praised the establishment of the “Islamic state”, which was declared by ISIS last Sunday.
Experts say the reclusive militant leader has never appeared on video before, although there are photographs of him.
“Appointing a leader is an obligation on Muslims, and one that has been neglected for decades,” he said.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi also said that he did not seek out the position of being the caliph, or leader, calling it a “burden”.
“I am your leader, though I am not the best of you, so if you see that I am right, support me, and if you see that I am wrong, advise me,” he told worshippers.
Captions in the video referred to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as “Caliph Ibrahim”, a name he has used since the group unilaterally declared him leader of an “Islamic state” last Sunday.
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Forty six Indian nurses, who were trapped in fighting engulfing parts of Iraq, have been freed, Indian authorities say.
The nurses have been handed over to Indian officials in the Kurdish city of Irbil and are due to be flown home on Saturday.
Forty six Indian nurses were trapped in fighting engulfing parts of Iraq
The nurses were working at a hospital in the northern city of Tikrit and had been stranded there for more than week.
Tikrit is among a number of towns and cities seized by jihadist-led Sunni rebels in recent weeks.
“All the 46 nurses in Iraq are safe,” chief minister of the southern Indian state of Kerala Oommen Chandy told a news conference on Friday, adding that they were to be transferred to Irbil airport.
The nurses, all from Kerala, are due to arrive in the southern city of Kochi on Saturday morning.
On Thursday, Indian officials said the nurses were “unharmed”, but had been moved out of Tikrit.
Indian media reports said they had been pressured into boarding buses and leaving the hospital by jihadist fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).
There are few details about the exact circumstances of their release.
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ISIS militants have announced they are establishing a caliphate, or Islamic state, on the territories the Islamist group controls in Iraq and Syria.
ISIS (the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) also proclaimed the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as caliph and “leader for Muslims everywhere”.
Setting up a caliphate ruled by the strict Islamic law has long been a goal of many jihadists.
Meanwhile, Iraq’s army continued an offensive to retake the northern city of Tikrit from the ISIS-led rebels.
Tikrit was seized by the insurgents on June 11 as they swept across large parts of northern-western Iraq.
ISIS militants have announced Islamic state on the territories the Islamist group controls in Iraq and Syria
In a separate development, Israel called for the creation of an independent Kurdish state in response to the gain made by the Sunni rebels in Iraq.
ISIS announced the establishment of the caliphate in an audio recording posted on the internet.
The group also said that from now on it would be known simply as “the Islamic State”.
The declaration harks back to the rise of Islam, when the Prophet Muhammad’s followers conquered vast territories in the Middle Ages.
The Sunni-Shia split happened because of a dispute over the succession to Muhammad, with the Sunnis following caliphs as their religious authority.
ISIS said the Islamic state would extend from Aleppo in northern Syria to Diyala province in eastern Iraq.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi would become the leader of the state and would be known as “Caliph Ibrahim”.
In the recording, the rebels also demanded that all Muslims “pledge allegiance” to the new ruler and “reject democracy and other garbage from the West”.
On Sunday, Iraqi government jets struck at rebel positions and clashes broke out in various parts of Tikrit, witnesses and officials said.
Troops had reportedly pulled back to the nearby town of Dijla as Saturday’s initial offensive met stiff resistance.
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Iraq’s PM Nouri al-Maliki has rejected calls for a national salvation government to help counter the offensive by jihadist-led Sunni insurgents.
Such calls represented a “coup against the constitution and an attempt to end the democratic experience”, Nouri al-Maliki warned.
The US has led appeals to Iraq’s political leaders to rise above sectarian and ethnic divisions.
Government forces have been unable to recapture the territory seized by the rebels this month.
PM Nouri al-Maliki has rejected calls for a national salvation government to help counter the offensive by jihadist-led Sunni insurgents
Almost half of the 300 US military advisers assigned to help the Iraqi security forces have arrived.
Fighting was reported to have continued on Wednesday, with an attack by rebels on the Balad airbase, about 50 miles north of Baghdad.
In his weekly televised address, Nouri al-Maliki called on “all political forces to reconcile” in the face of a “fierce terrorist onslaught”.
But the Shia prime minister gave no promise of greater representation in government for the minority Sunni Arab community, whose anger at what they say are his sectarian and authoritarian policies has been exploited by jihadist militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).
Nouri al-Maliki said forming an emergency administration that included all religious and ethnic groups would go against the results of April’s parliamentary elections, which were won by his State of Law alliance.
“The dangerous goals of forming a national salvation government are not hidden,” he said.
“It is an attempt by those who are against the constitution to eliminate the young democratic process and steal the votes of the voters.”
Nouri al-Maliki committed to start forming a new governing coalition by July 1st.
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The US will send 300 military advisers to Iraq to help fight Islamist-led insurgents, President Barack Obama has announced.
Barack Obama said the US was prepared for “targeted and precise military action, if and when… the situation on the ground requires it”, but added that US troops would not fight in Iraq.
He went on to insist there was “no military solution” and urged the Shia-led Iraqi government to be “inclusive”.
Barack Obama said that US troops would not fight in Iraq
Iraq has asked the US for air strikes against the Sunni militants.
The gunmen – spearheaded by the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) – have made major territorial gains in the past 10 days.
Barack Obama said it was not the US’s place to choose Iraq’s leaders.
His statement came after a day in which fighting continued for control of the country’s biggest oil refinery.
Officials insisted security forces were “in full control” of the Baiji refinery, about 130 miles north of the capital Baghdad. But militants led by ISIS have surrounded the facility.
For several days, production has been halted at Baiji refinery, which supplies much of the country’s domestic fuel.
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Iraq’s most senior Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has issued a call to arms while Sunni-led insurgents seize more towns.
The call by representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Sheik Abdul-Mahdi al-Karbalaie, came during Friday prayers, as the militants widened their grip in the north and east, and threatened to march south.
Iraq’s most senior Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has issued a call to arms while Sunni-led insurgents seize more towns
The UN says hundreds have been killed – with militants carrying out summary executions of civilians in Mosul.
Both the US and Iran have promised to help the fight against the insurgency.
Led by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), the Sunni insurgents have threatened to push to the capital, Baghdad, and regions further south dominated by Iraq’s Shia Muslim majority, whom they regard as “infidels”.
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ISIS insurgents in Iraq have seized the city of Tikrit, their second major gain after capturing Mosul on Tuesday, security officials say.
Tikrit, the hometown of former leader Saddam Hussein, lies 95 miles north of the capital Baghdad.
Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki vowed to fight back against the jihadists and punish those in the security forces who fled offering little or no resistance.
The insurgents are from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).
ISIS insurgents in Iraq have seized the city of Tikrit, their second major gain after capturing Mosul (photo AFP/Getty Images)
ISIS, which is also known as ISIL, is an offshoot of al-Qaeda.
The Islamist group controls considerable territory in eastern Syria and western and central Iraq, in a campaign to set up a Sunni militant enclave straddling the border.
There were also reports on Wednesday of fighting further south, in Samarra, 70 miles north of Baghdad.
Separately, at least 21 people were killed and 45 hurt by a suicide bomber at a Shia meeting in Baghdad, police said.
As many as 500,000 people fled Mosul after the militants attacked the city. The head of the Turkish mission in Mosul and almost 50 consulate staff are being held by the militants, Turkish officials say.
Turkey’s foreign minister warned there would be “harsh retaliation” if any of its citizens were harmed.
The insurgents moved quickly south, entering the town of Baiji late on Tuesday.
There were heavy clashes reported in Tikrit, with dozens of insurgents attacking security forces near the headquarters of the Salaheddin provincial government in the city centre.
AFP news agency quoted police and witnesses as saying there was fighting at the northern entrance to Samarra.
Earlier PM Nouri Maliki vowed to fight back against the militants. He has asked parliament to declare a state of emergency.
In a live TV address, he said a “conspiracy” had taken place in Mosul and surrounding Nineveh province.
Nouri Maliki said he did not want to apportion blame for who had ordered the security personnel “to retreat and cause chaos”.
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Iraq’s PM Nouri Maliki has asked parliament to declare a state of emergency, after Islamist militants effectively took control of Mosul city.
Nouri Maliki acknowledged “vital areas” of the northern city had been seized.
Overnight, hundreds of men armed with rocket-propelled grenades and machine-guns seized the Nineveh provincial government’s offices in Mosul.
They also destroyed several police stations before overrunning the airport and army’s operations headquarters.
Elsewhere, a double bomb attack in the central town of Baqouba killed at least 20 people, police and medics said. The blasts, targeting a funeral procession in the capital of Diyala province, also wounded 28 people.
Iraq’s Islamist militants took control of Mosul city
In the past week, the jihadist Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) and its allies have carried out major attacks on cities and towns in western and northern Iraq, killing scores of people.
Militants from ISIS have been informally controlling much of Nineveh province for months, imposing tolls of the movement of goods and demanding protection money from local officials.
After five days of fighting, they took control of key installations in Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city with an estimated population of 1.8 million.
PM Nouri Maliki, who is struggling to form a government in the wake of the April elections, has vowed to drive the ISIS “terrorists” out of mainly-Sunni Mosul in short order.
He is unlikely to succeed soon. He made similar vows when Sunni militants took over Falluja, west of Baghdad, in January, and they are still there.
It is not yet clear whether it is only ISIS involved in the Mosul takeover. In Falluja and its province, Anbar, Nouri Maliki has clearly alienated many Sunni tribesmen and others, creating fertile soil for the radicals.
Internet images of local youths and even children stoning Iraqi security vehicles as they fled Mosul suggest that the Shia PM is not popular there either.
ISIS is also actively fighting in neighboring eastern Syria to establish its control there, apparently aiming to straddle the border with an Islamic state.
If Nouri Maliki is to defeat the Sunni radicals, he may need the help of Kurdish forces from the north. That will come with a heavy price tag, and they have in any case so far refused.
On Monday, Nineveh Governor Atheel al-Nujaifi made a televised plea to the city’s residents, calling on them to “stand firm in their areas and to defend them against the strangers”.
He fled shortly before the provincial government’s headquarters fell to the onslaught late on Monday night.
On Tuesday, several residents told the Associated Press that black flags associated with jihadist groups were flying from buildings and that the militants had announced over loudspeaker that they had “come to liberate Mosul and would fight only those who attack them”.
Many police stations were reported to have been set on fire – local TV stations showed pictures of plumes of smoke rising over the city – and hundreds of detainees set free.
An interior ministry official admitted that police and soldiers had fled after removing their uniforms, telling the AFP news agency: “The city of Mosul is outside the control of the state and at the mercy of the militants.”
Osama al-Nujaifi, the speaker of parliament and brother of Nineveh’s governor, called on the Iraqi government and Kurdistan Regional Government to send reinforcements to Mosul to “fight the terrorists”, whom he said had seized military hardware, including helicopters.
Meanwhile, the Turkish consulate in Mosul confirmed reports that 28 Turkish lorry drivers had been abducted by militants in Nineveh.
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A series of bomb attacks killed at least 26 people in central Iraq, police and medical officials say.
Fifteen died when a suicide bomber target a funeral for a pro-government Sunni militiaman in a village south of Baquba, the capital of Diyala province.
Car bombs meanwhile exploded in four parts of Baghdad, killing at least 11 people and wounding dozens more.
Fifteen people died when a suicide bomber target a funeral for a pro-government Sunni militiaman in a village south of Baquba
There has been a surge in sectarian violence across Iraq in the past year, reaching levels not seen since 2007.
According to the UN, 7,818 civilians and 1,050 members of the security forces died in 2013. December alone saw at least 759 killed.
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Secretary of State John Kerry has said the US will help Iraq fight al-Qaeda-linked militants, but that it is not planning to send troops back to the country.
John Kerry said he was confident the government of Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki could defeat the militants.
Earlier, the Iraqi government said it had lost control of the strategic city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad.
Al-Qaeda-linked militants now control the south of the city.
An Iraqi reporter there says tribesmen allied with al-Qaeda hold the rest of Fallujah.
John Kerry made the comments as he left Jerusalem for Jordan and Saudi Arabia to discuss his effort to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
“We will stand with the government of Iraq and with others who will push back against their efforts to destabilize,” he said.
John Kerry has said the US will help Iraq fight al-Qaeda-linked militants, but that it is not planning to send troops back to the country
“We are going to do everything that is possible. I will not go into the details.”
He added: “We are not contemplating putting boots on the ground. This is their fight.”
The head of the police in Anbar province – Hadi Razeij – said on Saturday that his men had pulled back to the city walls and the people of Fallujah were “the prisoners of Isis”.
Fighting there erupted after troops broke up a protest camp by Sunni Arabs in the city of Ramadi on Monday.
They have been accusing the Shia-led government of marginalizing the Sunnis.
Local Sunni Arabs have been angered by what they perceive as discrimination by the government of Nouri Maliki.
They also say their minority community is being targeted by anti-terrorism measures implemented to stem the surge in sectarian violence.
In recent months, Sunni militants have stepped up attacks across Iraq, while Shia groups began deadly reprisals – raising fears of a return to full-scale sectarian conflict.
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Iraqi army has lost control of the strategic city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, eyewitnesses say.
Al-Qaeda-linked militants now control the south of the city. An Iraqi reporter there says tribesmen allied with al-Qaeda hold the rest of Fallujah.
Fighting there erupted after troops broke up a protest camp by Sunni Arabs in the city of Ramadi on Monday.
They have been accusing the Shia-led government of marginalizing the Sunnis.
The recent fighting in Fallujah and Ramadi has pitted government troops on the one hand and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis), which is affiliated with al-Qaeda, and Sunni tribesmen on the other.
Local Sunni Arabs have been angered by they perceive as discrimination by the government of PM Nouri Maliki.
They also say their minority community is being targeted by anti-terrorism measures implemented to stem the surge in sectarian violence.
Iraqi army has lost control of the strategic city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad
Late on Saturday, eyewitnesses said al-Qaeda militants were in evidence on the streets of Fallujah, riding pick-up trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns.
Reuters news agency said saying troops were shelling parts of the city to try to retake it.
Iraqiya state television quoted Nouri Maliki as saying: “We will not back down until we end all terrorist groups and save our people in Anbar.”
On Tuesday, he agreed to withdraw the army from towns and cities in Anbar province, to allow police to resume control of security.
But as soon as soldiers left their posts, militants aligned to al-Qaeda appeared in Ramadi, Fallujah and Tarmiya, storming police stations, freeing prisoners and seizing weapons.
Nouri Maliki reversed his decision the next day, sending soldiers back to Anbar.
But on Thursday, militants in Ramadi and Fallujah raised black flags on buildings and used the loudspeakers of mosques to call on people to join their struggle and support a “peaceful takeover”.
In recent months Sunni militants have stepped up attacks across Iraq, while Shia groups began deadly reprisals – raising fears of a return to full-scale sectarian conflict.
On Wednesday, the UN said at least 7,818 civilians and 1,050 members of the security forces had been killed in 2013.
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Iraqi troops arrested MP Ahmed al-Alwani and killed his brother and at least three of his guards during a raid on his home in the western city of Ramadi.
Ahmed al-Alwani, a member of the Sunni community, had backed protests against the mainly Shia government of PM Nouri al-Maliki and was reportedly wanted on terrorism charges.
Police said Ahmed al-Alwani’s guards opened fire as officers arrived to detain him.
Another 18 people were wounded in the ensuing skirmish, an official said.
“Security forces attacked the residence of MP Ahmed al-Alwani in central Ramadi to arrest him this morning, sparking a battle with his guards with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades,” a police major told AFP news agency.
“Five of Alwani’s guards and his brother were killed and eight others wounded, while 10 security forces members were also wounded,” the major said.
Ahmed al-Alwani, a member of the Sunni community, had backed protests against the mainly Shia government of PM Nouri al-Maliki and was reportedly wanted on terrorism charges
Some reports suggest that a sister of the MP – a member of the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc – was also among those killed in the raid.
The reasons for Ahmed al-Alwani’s arrest were not immediately clear. Associated Press news agency said he was wanted on terrorism charges.
He has also been a prominent supporter of a group of activists camped on a highway near Ramadi protesting against the perceived marginalization and persecution of Iraqi Sunnis by the Shia-dominated government.
PM Nouri al-Maliki has reportedly threatened to shut down the camp, saying it has become a headquarters of al-Qaeda.
Ahmed al-Alwani’s arrest comes as Iraq remains in the grip of sectarian fighting which has made this the deadliest year since 2008.
Al-Qaeda has claimed two mass jailbreaks in Iraq, which freed hundreds of prisoners including senior leaders of the Islamist militant group.
In an online statement, al-Qaeda said Sunday’s attack was the final one in a campaign aimed at freeing inmates.
At least 20 security guards died when gunmen stormed the Abu Ghraib and Taji jails near Baghdad.
Abu Ghraib gained global notoriety in 2004 when images were released showing US guards abusing Iraqi detainees.
Iraqi officials had previously tortured regime opponents in Abu Ghraib during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
On Tuesday, an al-Qaeda affiliate calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant said it carried out the attacks on the prisons.
At least 20 security guards died when gunmen stormed the Abu Ghraib and Taji jails near Baghdad
The group, which was formed of al-Qaeda groups in Iraq and Syria, said it had spent “months planning” the attacks on Abu Ghraib to the west of the capital and Taji to the north.
The group also claimed some 500 militants were among the hundreds of prisoners who had escaped.
Iraqi authorities initially denied any prisoners had escaped in the assaults, but later acknowledged “some” prisoners escaped.
The Iraqi interior ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that the gunmen had received help from some of the prison guards.
Fighting raged for several hours after the jails came under attack on Sunday night.
Gunmen fired mortar rounds at the prisons, and then used car bombs at the entrances.
The situation was eventually brought back under control on Monday morning, with the use of military helicopters.
Justice ministry spokesman Wissam al-Firaiji earlier said the attackers, whom he called terrorists, had been well-armed.
“The attack against Taji jail alone was carried out by nine suicide bombers and three car bombs driven by suicide bombers,” he told reporters.
“The attackers also lobbed more than 100 mortar shells,” he said, adding that the inmates were “under control” again.
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At least 19 people have been killed in two car bomb explosions in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, officials say.
The blasts happened within minutes of each other in the central Shia district of Karrada in the middle of the afternoon rush hour.
The first bomb exploded outside a restaurant and a bakery in al-Andalus Square, and the second outside a court opposite a major police headquarters.
More than 240 people have been killed this month in militant attacks in Iraq.
At least 19 people have been killed in two car bomb explosions in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad
Sunni insurgents linked to al-Qaeda appear to have been behind most of the violence, including a wave of bombings and shootings in Baghdad and towns to the north on 23 July which left at least 107 dead.
Clouds of black smoke rose above the centre of the capital on Tuesday after the latest bombings, which also injured more than 50 people.
“We were in a patrol when we heard the first explosion. The second explosion hit another square, and we went to help,” Ahmed Hassan, a policeman, told the Reuters news agency.
“There was a minibus with six dead passengers inside it.”
At least five policemen were also among those killed, officials said.
An interior ministry official told the AFP news agency that the first attack had been carried out by a suicide bomber, while the local TV news channel al-Sharqiya said they had both been suicide bombings.
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Waves of bomb attacks and shootings in north of Baghdad have killed at least 82 people, say security and medical officials.
Many of those killed were security forces – who appear to have been a prime target.
One of the worst-hit places was Taji, a Sunni neighbourhood some 20 km (12 miles) north of Baghdad, where at least 18 people were killed.
At least 112 people were wounded on one of the bloodiest days of the year.
Deadly car bombings hit Baghdad, and a government building in Sadr city was attacked. At least seven car bombs hit the northern oil city of Kirkuk.
Waves of bomb attacks and shootings in north of Baghdad have killed at least 82 people
Dhuluiya, Saadiya, Khan Beni-Saad, Tuz Khurmatu and Dibis were also said to have suffered attacks.
The security forces suffered badly in Monday’s attacks, with at least 15 Iraqi soldiers killed in a single attack on a base in Salaheddin province.
Police checkpoints were hit by car bombs, army bases were struck by mortar fire, and one policeman was even attacked in his home.
Those in Taji died in a string of explosions.
“What is the guilt of these poor people?” asked resident Ali Hussein.
“They are working to earn a living. It is a poor market and people were here to shop in this market when the blast happened. Why did this happen?”
It is the deadliest day in Iraq since 13 June, when another wave of bombings killed 84 people and injured nearly 300.
On Sunday bombings south of the capital killed at least 17.
Violence dipped in Iraq following the insurgency in 2006 and 2007, but sectarian violence has returned across the country in recent months amid worsening political tensions.
At least 237 people were killed during June, making it one of the bloodiest months since US troops withdrew in December.
Deadliest attacks in 2012:
• 3 July: At least 40 killed and many more wounded in series of attacks across Iraq
• 13 June: Wave of bombings kills 84 and injures nearly 300 in deadliest day since US troops withdrew last December
• 4 June: More than 20 people killed in bomb attack in Baghdad
• 20 March: At least 45 people die in series of co-ordinated attacks including car bombs in Kerbala city that kill at least 13
• 23 February: At least 55 people killed and hundreds injured in wave of bombings and shootings across the country
• 27 January: A suicide car bomb kills at least 32 and injures about 60 in predominantly Shia Muslim district of Baghdad
Two car bomb and suicide attacks killed at least 10 people and wounded another 15 in the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar, according to police.
The car bomb exploded near a restaurant in Tal Afar centre. Minutes later, a man wearing an explosive vest blew himself up in a crowd of onlookers.
Tel Afar is not far from the Syrian border, just west of the city of Mosul.
Earlier, a car bomb reportedly killed two people and wounded seven in a western part of the capital, Baghdad.
There has been a rise in attacks in Iraq since US troops left in December, leaving more than 200 people dead.
The violence has come amid a marked deterioration in Iraq’s fragile political process, with the country’s most prominent Sunni Arab politician being sought by the authorities on terrorism charges.
At least 27 police officers have been killed in the western Iraqi city of Haditha after dozens of gunmen launched a pre-dawn raid on police targets.
The attacks began on Monday at 02:00 a.m. with the kidnapping of two senior officers from their homes. They were later found shot dead.
The gunmen, some wearing military uniforms, then moved through the city, shooting police at checkpoints.
Al-Qaeda has been blamed for the attacks.
An al-Qaeda flag was raised at one of the checkpoints that was hit, according to the Associated Press.
This is the first major incident of violence in Haditha since a suicide bomber targeted a bank in the city in March 2011, killing nine people.
The gunmen entered the homes of a colonel and a captain in the interior ministry security force, kidnapping them both. The attackers claimed they had warrants for their arrests, Mohammed Fathi, a spokesman for the provincial governor, told AP.
At least 27 police officers have been killed in the western Iraqi city of Haditha after dozens of gunmen launched a pre-dawn raid on police targets
The two commanders were later found shot dead in the street not far from their homes, Haditha police said.
Mohammed Fathi told AP the gunmen had false arrest warrants for 15 police officials in the city.
The gang, driving interior ministry vehicles and wearing uniforms of the ministry’s special forces, then moved through the city in a convoy, which one local lieutenant said was 13 vehicles strong.
The attackers opened fire on the checkpoints they came to. Three of the assailants were also killed in the raids, which are said to have lasted half an hour.
“Al-Qaeda is responsible for this,” Maj Tareq Sayeh Hardan, a police spokesman in Haditha, said, adding that al-Qaeda literature had been found in one of the attackers’ vehicles.
Haditha lies in the Sunni Arab Anbar province, which became an al-Qaeda stronghold after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Violence in the province dwindled after tribal leaders allied themselves with US forces in 2006.
However, attacks have risen across Iraq since US troops withdrew in December.
Last month, at least 55 people were killed and hundreds injured in a day of violence targeting mainly Shia areas across the country.
The violence in Haditha comes ahead of an Arab League summit, due to be held in Baghdad at the end of March.
At least 48 people died and dozens have been injured in a wave of bombings and shootings across Iraq, police say.
The attacks targeted predominantly Shia areas, in particular police officers and checkpoints.
In Baghdad, nine people died in two successive blasts in the central Karrada district. Outside the capital, at least two were killed in Baquba.
No group has yet said it was behind the violence. Attacks in Iraq have risen since US troops withdrew in December.
Tolls from other attacks around Baghdad include:
• six dead after a car bomb in Shia-dominated Kadhimiya, norht of Baghdad
• six killed by gunmen at a police checkpoint in the Sarafiya district of the capital
• two dead and five injured in an explosion in the western al-Mansour district
• two killed and 10 injured in two explosions in Dorat Abo Sheer, southern Baghdad
• two killed and nine wounded in an attack by gunmen using weapons with silencers, targeting a police patrol in Saidiya, southern Baghdad
• seven injured, most of them policemen, in a blast in al-Madaen, south of Baghdad
• five civilians injured in a bomb explosion in Taji, north of Baghdad
There are also reports of bombings in the provinces of Salahuddin and Kirkuk.
The capital of Salahuddin province is Tikrit, the home town of former leader Saddam Hussein, who was executed in 2006.
There are fears the death toll from Thursday’s violence could rise.
Last week, at least 18 people were killed in a suicide attack near the Iraqi police academy in the capital.
Shia targets have come under increasing attack since the government of Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki moved against senior members of the predominantly Sunni Iraqiya political bloc.
The day after US troops withdrew a warrant was issued for the arrest of Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi, who is accused of financing death squads.
Tariq al- Hashemi, who denies the charges, is currently in Iraqi Kurdistan, under the protection of the regional government.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq said it carried out previous waves of attacks in December and January.
However, a senior government official said the upsurge in violence since the withdrawal of US troops was politically motivated. The official blamed Tariq al- Hashemi for planning and co-ordinating the attacks.
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At least 63 people have been killed and around 185 injured in a wave of apparently co-ordinated bomb attacks in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, according to officials.
The interior ministry told the BBC 14 blasts hit various locations, including al-Amil in the south and Halawi and Karrada closer to the centre.
The bombings are the worst in months – and follow the withdrawal of US troops.
They come amid fears of rising sectarian tensions as the unity government faces internal divisions.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the attacks.
However, analysts say the level of co-ordination suggests a planning capability only available to al-Qaeda in Iraq, which is a mainly Sunni insurgent group.
The bombs exploded as many people were travelling to work during the morning rush-hour.
Four car-bombs and 10 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were detonated, officials told the BBC.
A security spokesman in Baghdad, Maj-Gen Qassim Atta, said the attackers had not aimed at security targets.
“They targeted children’s schools, day workers and the anti-corruption agency,” he told the AFP news agency.
Raghad Khalid, a teacher at a kindergarten in Karrada, said “the children were scared and crying”.
“Some parts of the car bomb are inside our building.”
Smoke was seen rising over Karrada district, with ambulances rushing to the scene.
Another woman said her baby had been covered in glass.
“She is now scared in the next room. All countries are stable. Why don’t we have security and stability?” said Um Hanin.
Iraq’s year-old power-sharing government is in turmoil after an arrest warrant was issued for Sunni Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi on terror charges.
The entire al-Iraqiyya group, the main Sunni bloc in parliament, is boycotting the assembly in protest. It accuses Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, a Shia, of monopolizing power.
Tariq al-Hashemi denies the charges. He is currently in Irbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, under the protection of the regional government, but PM Nouri Maliki has demanded that they give him up.
The last American troops departed from Iraq on Sunday, nearly nine years after the war that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
President Barack Obama acknowledged that the situation was not perfect, but said the US forces were leaving behind “a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq, with a representative government elected by its people”.
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