Iraq - Page 9

Pope Francis will travel next month to Iraq, a land devastated by ongoing conflicts that have uprooted more than a million Christians in just two decades, France 24 reports.

Several “national security experts” interviewed for an essay in The Root published on Thursday, attacked the Republican Party, claiming it behaves “like a terror group,” is rife with “terrorist sympathizers,” and should be viewed as “enemy combatants.”

Pope Francis’ plans to travel to Iraq on March 5 are “unaffected” by recent violence in Baghdad and Erbil, the Vatican and Iraq’s Foreign Ministry concur.

Jens Stoltenberg, secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), announced on Thursday that another 3,500 troops will be sent to Iraq, joining 500 NATO forces already in the country. The United States currently has about 2,500 troops in Iraq.

A militia believed to be tied to the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) took responsibility on Tuesday for a rocket attack on Erbil, Iraq, that resulted in damage to the Chinese consulate there.

Islamist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the United States in remarks Monday to stop “siding with terrorists” for Washington’s continued support of Syrian Kurdish groups instrumental to defeating the Islamic State.

The Iraqi government has ordained a “total curfew” during the March 5-8 visit of Pope Francis following recent violent attacks in the country.

Iranian Chief Justice Ebrahim Raeisi on Wednesday accused the U.S. government of helping the Islamic State recover its strength in Syria and spread its operatives into countries such as Iran that oppose U.S. hegemony. According to Raeisi, only Iran and the Shiite-dominated government of Iraq truly stand against ISIS.

The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, an organization founded by the former prime minister of the United Kingdom, published a report on Thursday that found terrorist militia aligned with Iran surged in numbers and influence across the Middle East after the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The Islamic State terror group continues to pose a security threat in areas of northern Iraq disputed between Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdistan region, a leader of Kurdistan’s Peshmerga military said on Tuesday.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has deployed Peshmerga forces to northern Iraq to combat “increased threats” of attacks by Islamic State (ISIS), Kurdish news outlet Rudaw reported on Thursday.

In an interview with NPR on Tuesday former CIA operative Robert Grenier compared Trump to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

The Iraqi government executed three convicted Islamic terrorists Monday, amidst growing national sentiment that authorities are doing too little to stop jihad in the country.

Representatives of the Islamic State jihadist group confirmed Thursday that they organized twin suicide bombings in Baghdad, Iraq, that day that left 32 dead and over 100 injured.

Zeinab Soleimani, daughter of late Iranian terrorist Qasem Soleimani, threatened former President Donald Trump via Twitter on Wednesday following his departure from the White House, writing that he will “live in fear of foes” indefinitely.

Pope Francis sent a telegram to Iraqi President Barham Salih Thursday offering condolences and prayers for victims of twin suicide bombings that claimed the lives of at least 35 people.

Twin suicide bombers blew themselves up in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad Thursday morning, killing at least 28 and leaving scores injured, some of them critically.

Twin suicide bombings hit Iraq’s capital Thursday, killing at least six people and wounding at least 25 others, police and state TV said.

Kurdish news service Rudaw reported Tuesday that residents of Mosul are still waiting for the corpses of the Islamic State’s victims to be cleared from the streets. The city was liberated from ISIS control four years ago.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence used a series of meetings with troops over the weekend to declare his pride that America entered no new wars during President Donald Trump’s administration.

Miller announced on Friday that United States troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan have now reached 2,500 in each country.

A new poll set to be released Thursday shows that two-thirds of American veterans and a majority of military families support ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and bringing all U.S. troops home.

Anti-government protests in the southern city of Nasiriyah, Iraq, left one police officer and two demonstrators dead on Sunday, the Iraqi Army said.

A judge in a Baghdad investigative court on Thursday issued an arrest warrant for President Donald Trump for ordering the January 2020 airstrike that killed Iranian terrorist Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

CBS News revealed on Tuesday audio of a message broadcast through radio frequencies used by pilots and air traffic control professionals in the United States warning of an attack on the U.S. Capitol, allegedly to avenge Iranian terrorist Qasem Soleimani.

Militias in the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) organized a “million person march” in Baghdad on Sunday to honor Major General Qasem Soleimani, Iran’s top terrorist mastermind, killed by an American airstrike a year ago that day.

United Nations human rights experts on Wednesday denounced President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon four American men convicted of killing Iraqi civilians while working as contractors in 2007 as a violation of international law.

Iraqi state media warned of a major energy crisis Tuesday due to reduced exports of natural gas from Iran.

Gang members and militia fighters associated with a coalition linked to Iran have escalated attacks on liquor stories — most owned by Christians and Yazidis — in Baghdad, Iraq, the Kurdish outlet Rudaw reported Sunday.

Iraqi Archbishop Bashar Warda has underscored the “immense” historic importance of Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to Iraq, as Christians’ survival in the country hangs in the balance.

Pope Francis urged the international community to assist Christians forced out of the Middle East as they attempt to return home.

The archbishop of Mosul, Iraq, has expressed his people’s joy over the announcement of a March visit by Pope Francis, the first of its kind by any pontiff.

The Vatican announced Monday that Pope Francis will make a three-day visit to Iraq in March as a show of support for the nation’s beleaguered Christian community.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has never made a secret of his ambition to become a historic regional leader. His nostalgia for the Ottoman Empire long ago became a source of concern for observers who think he might seriously attempt to bring it back. His detractors mock him as “Sultan Erdogan,” but he might not find that name insulting. Erdogan flexed his military muscle in several recent conflicts. He might be warming up for something bigger, or he may have already overtaxed Turkey’s military strength.

A spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State said on Tuesday that some 10,000 members of ISIS are still lurking in Iraq and Syria. With its numbers vastly diminished from their peak of over 40,000 fighters, ISIS has transitioned to an insurgency instead of a conquering army, but it remains a dangerous threat.

Mattis prompted a backlash from conservatives after he calling to eliminate “America First” from the nation’s national security strategy.