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Victims of violence struggle for medical treatment in Iraq

Ilham Nori Wahid’s eyes fill with tears as he speaks about the bomb attack that left him wounded, and killed his friends and neighbours in northern Iraq’s Kirkuk province. “The sound was so loud that I couldn’t hear anything for three days afterwards. There were five people in front of me and all of them were killed.” The blast came as people were leaving Al-Quds mosque on the first day of the Muslim celebration, Eid al-Adha. Wahid survived, but now has to cope with his physical and psychological scars in a country where violence is at its highest level in five years and the healthcare system is struggling to respond to the needs of patients. Over 135,000 Iraqi civilians were injured in conflict and violence between March 2003 and March 2013 according to Iraq Body Count , but figures from the Iraqi Human […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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52 dead in throwback to Iraq's sectarian bloodshed

A wave of violence Friday killed 52 people in Iraq, most of whom were kidnapped and shot dead with their corpses abandoned, in scenes harking back to Iraq’s sectarian war. The killings come amid a surge in violence that has left more than 600 people dead this month, including several who were snatched from their homes, only for their bodies to be found later, fuelling fears Iraq is slipping back into the communal bloodshed that plagued it from 2005 to 2007. More than 6,000 people have been killed this year, forcing Baghdad to appeal for international help in battling militancy just months before a general election, as official concern focuses on a resurgent Al-Qaeda emboldened by the war in neighbouring Syria. Violence on Friday struck in Baghdad and mostly Sunni […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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52 dead in throwback to Iraq’s sectarian bloodshed

A wave of violence Friday killed 52 people in Iraq, most of whom were kidnapped and shot dead with their corpses abandoned, in scenes harking back to Iraq’s sectarian war. The killings come amid a surge in violence that has left more than 600 people dead this month, including several who were snatched from their homes, only for their bodies to be found later, fuelling fears Iraq is slipping back into the communal bloodshed that plagued it from 2005 to 2007. More than 6,000 people have been killed this year, forcing Baghdad to appeal for international help in battling militancy just months before a general election, as official concern focuses on a resurgent Al-Qaeda emboldened by the war in neighbouring Syria. Violence on Friday struck in Baghdad and mostly Sunni […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Turkey, Kurdistan cement massive energy deal

Turkey has signed multiple agreements that flesh out its energy alliance with Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, despite last-ditch efforts by Baghdad and Washington to forestall the deal.In a Nov. 27 meeting in Ankara between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, the two sides signed documents to govern export pipelines, the sale of gas, and the handling of revenue, according to two people involved in the negot… This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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18 People, Abducted in Baghdad, Are Found Shot to Death

Eighteen people were found dead in what appeared to be an execution-style killing on Friday, their bodies dumped on a farm near the predominantly Sunni neighborhood where they had been rounded up the night before, according to the police. Armed men in sport utility vehicles and dressed in military uniforms swarmed into the neighborhood of Mashahdi in northern Baghdad late on Thursday and singled out 18 people, taking them from separate residences, the police said, quoting witness accounts. The bodies of the victims, who were all Sunnis, were discovered in the morning riddled with bullets, the police said. The victims included a leader from the Dulaimi tribe, one of the largest and most prominent Sunni tribes in Iraq; his son; a local municipal official; an army officer; and a police officer. A farmer in the area, Kareem al-Jasim, said he had witnessed the roundup in Mashahdi by […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Exclusive: Turkey, Iraqi Kurdistan ink landmark energy contracts

Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan signed a multi-billion-dollar energy package this week that will help transform the semi-autonomous region into an oil and gas powerhouse but infuriate the central government in Baghdad. The move follows months of negotiations and was learned from sources close to the deal on Friday after being kept secret. Baghdad says any independent Kurdish oil exports are illegal and that it has the sole authority to manage Iraqi oil. For energy-hungry Turkey, dependent on imports for almost all of its needs, exploiting Iraqi Kurdistan’s rich hydrocarbon resources will help diversify its energy supplies and reduce the country’s ballooning $60 billion energy bill. Ankara’s close partnership with Iraqi Kurds is historic and to many, marks the beginning of a new era, given the decades-long fight with Kurdish militants on Turkish soil that has claimed more than 40,000 lives. The deal came in the early […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Tents, refugees crowd Lebanese valley – just don't call it a camp

White tents with "The U.N. Refugee Agency" written on them flap in the wind outside the Lebanese mountain town of Arsal. Children run past latrines and water points. In all respects, it is a refugee camp, but you must not call it that, say officials. The site is home to about 350 people who have fled the civil war in neighboring Syria – the first officially U.N.-run plot set up for displaced Syrians in Lebanon, complete with running water, toilets and other services. But in a sign of the extreme sensitivities over refugees in the Mediterranean state, the authorities are doing all they can to play down any suggestion it is a settled facility for long-term residents. "It’s not a camp, it’s a temporary transit site," said one aid worker showing journalists round the site on Friday. Countries across the region have grown increasingly concerned […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Tents, refugees crowd Lebanese valley – just don’t call it a camp

White tents with "The U.N. Refugee Agency" written on them flap in the wind outside the Lebanese mountain town of Arsal. Children run past latrines and water points. In all respects, it is a refugee camp, but you must not call it that, say officials. The site is home to about 350 people who have fled the civil war in neighboring Syria – the first officially U.N.-run plot set up for displaced Syrians in Lebanon, complete with running water, toilets and other services. But in a sign of the extreme sensitivities over refugees in the Mediterranean state, the authorities are doing all they can to play down any suggestion it is a settled facility for long-term residents. "It’s not a camp, it’s a temporary transit site," said one aid worker showing journalists round the site on Friday. Countries across the region have grown increasingly concerned […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Venezuela's Maduro Pledges Crackdown Against Foreign-Exchange Speculation

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday promised to intensify his crusade against alleged speculators and greedy businesses which he says are contributing to the oil-rich country’s economic troubles and pledged more state control over sectors fueling sky-high inflation. The leader unveiled a new price cap for commercial real estate and also appointed a few of his cabinet members to run a recently created state agency that will oversee all of Venezuela imports and exports, as well as access to dollars in a country that has had tight currency controls for the last decade. They are the latest measures by Mr. Maduro as he tries to tame an inflation rate well above 50%, rapid depreciation of the local bolivar currency and a shortage of dollars in the import-dependent economy, which has resulted in shortages of food and consumer goods. Regional elections on Dec. 8 are adding pressure […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Venezuela’s Maduro Pledges Crackdown Against Foreign-Exchange Speculation

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday promised to intensify his crusade against alleged speculators and greedy businesses which he says are contributing to the oil-rich country’s economic troubles and pledged more state control over sectors fueling sky-high inflation. The leader unveiled a new price cap for commercial real estate and also appointed a few of his cabinet members to run a recently created state agency that will oversee all of Venezuela imports and exports, as well as access to dollars in a country that has had tight currency controls for the last decade. They are the latest measures by Mr. Maduro as he tries to tame an inflation rate well above 50%, rapid depreciation of the local bolivar currency and a shortage of dollars in the import-dependent economy, which has resulted in shortages of food and consumer goods. Regional elections on Dec. 8 are adding pressure […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple