Category:

New Report of ISIS Using Poison Gas in Syria

ISTANBUL — The Islamic State may have used chemical agents in an attack against civilians and rival insurgents in northern Syria late last week, according to local rebels and an international aid group. The assault on Friday in the city of Marea involved more than 50 shells and was centered on civilian areas, the Syrian American Medical Society, a humanitarian group, reported . After the attack, the group’s field hospital received more than 50 patients, 23 of whom, including some children, showed symptoms of chemical exposure, including coughing, vomiting, wheezing and severe itching. Some also had blisters associated with mustard gas, the society said in a statement. The report was corroborated by local rebel forces, who claimed that shells had been fired from Isnibil, a village east of Marea that is controlled by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. “At least half of the 50 mortar […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

As Turkey Targets Militants, War Grips Kurdish Lands Once Again

Photo Officers conducted searches of young people during a security operation this month in the southeastern town of Diyarbakir. Credit Usame Ari/Associated Press DIYARBAKIR, Turkey — Across the Kurdish lands of southeast Turkey , a bitter war that had long been stilled by a truce has suddenly come roaring back, threatening to undo a hard-won economic turnaround here and adding a new battlefield to a region already consumed by chaos. Cafes in this city that usually stay open until midnight now close at dusk. Jails are filling, once again, with Kurdish activists and officials accused of supporting terrorism. Residents say they are stocking up on weapons, just in case. In the mountains, Kurdish guerrillas hastily set up vehicle checkpoints and then dissolve into the rugged terrain in a game of cat and mouse with Turkish soldiers. In the countryside, burned and mangled vehicles blight a landscape blackened by forest […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Shah Deniz gas pipeline flow halted by explosion in Turkey: officials

Gas flow on the Shah Deniz pipeline carrying natural gas from Azerbaijan was halted by an explosion in Turkey on Monday evening, energy sector officials said, with one saying it was thought Kurdish militants had sabotaged the pipeline. The officials told Reuters that gas flow had been halted on Aug. 3 due to maintenance and had only resumed on Aug. 23 but had not yet reached capacity before Monday’s blast. "Last night there was an explosion in the pipeline on the Turkish side and the flow stopped," one senior official said. Another official said damage assessment was set to begin on Tuesday and that it would not be clear when the gas flow would resume until after the assessment. An explosion had previously hit the pipeline on Aug. 4, after the flow had already been suspended for maintenance. That was days after an attack by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S., Turkey to launch ‘comprehensive’ anti-Islamic State operation

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu answers a question during an interview with Reuters in Ankara, Turkey, August 24, 2015. Turkey and the United States will soon launch ”comprehensive” air operations to flush Islamic State fighters from a zone in northern Syria… Turkey and the United States will soon launch "comprehensive" air operations to flush Islamic State fighters from a zone in northern Syria bordering Turkey, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Reuters on Monday. Detailed talks between Washington and Ankara on the plans were completed on Sunday and regional allies including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan as well as Britain and France may also take part, Cavusoglu said in an interview. "The technical talks have been concluded, yesterday, and soon we will start this operation, comprehensive operations, against Daesh (Islamic State)," he said. The United States and Turkey plan to provide air cover for what Washington judges to be moderate […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen ramp up as allies push north

AP Photo/Hani Mohammed SANAA, Yemen (AP) — The Saudi-led coalition fighting Shiite rebels in Yemen doubled its near-daily airstrikes Monday in the central province of Marib and the adjacent border area of Jawf, in order to allow allies on the ground to push north toward insurgent strongholds, authorities said. Marib’s pro-government forces also received major reinforcements, including hundreds of Saudi-trained troops, ambulances and armored personnel carriers manned by Saudi and Emirati soldiers, pro-government officials said. The forces aim to take Saada, the main northern stronghold of the Houthi rebels, they added. Yemen’s conflict pits the Iran-allied Houthis and troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh against an array of forces including southern separatists, local and tribal militias, Sunni Islamic militants as well as troops loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Pro-government forces recently pushed the Houthis out of several key southern areas. Meanwhile, in Yemen’s third-largest city, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil’s Drop Puts Spotlight on Saudi Arabia

The plunge in global oil prices has eroded an important pillar of Saudi Arabia’s strategy of pumping freely to grab global market share: Demand growth that once looked solid doesn’t look so steady anymore, mainly due to concerns about China. That has again raised a question at the heart of oil markets for more than a year: Could the world’s largest exporter of oil move to restrain production in hopes of stabilizing prices? Even before the general market rout extended into Monday, falling oil prices had sparked renewed calls from Algeria for the Organization of the Oil Exporting Countries to reverse course and discuss production cuts. On Monday, Iran, another OPEC member, said it would welcome an emergency meeting of the group, even as it restated vows to boost its own production as soon as international sanctions are lifted, possibly later this year. Those calls are aimed directly at […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Iraqi forces clash with ISIL in push for Anbar

Iraqi forces and loyalists launched an offensive to recapture Anbar province in July [Reuters] Dozens of Iraqi forces have reportedly been killed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq’s Anbar province, which has witnessed heavy fighting since Iraqi forces launched an offensive in July. Three car bombs in Al Toui, northwest of Ramadi, killed at least 18 Iraqi forces and members of the Popular Mobilisation Forces on Monday, sources told Al Jazeera. A total death toll of 46 Iraqi forces and Popular Mobilisation Forces has been reported following days of heavy clashes in several areas as Iraqi forces advanced in their offensive to recapture Anbar province. Analysts skeptical about latest Iraqi army Anbar offensive At least seven ISIL fighters have been killed, military sources said. Karim al-Nouri, a spokesman for the Popular Mobilisation Forces, an umbrella organisation of mainly Shia militiamen, said the operation […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Promising jobs, Basra appeases protesters at key commercial sites

Oil workers protest at the headquarters of the state-run South Oil Company (SOC) on Aug. 20, 2015. (ALI ABU IRAQ/Iraq Oil Report) Basra government officials have negotiated temporary solutions to disperse two groups of protesters who had been blocking access to Iraq’s largest oil field and its only deep-water port.For nearly a week, the protest in North Rumaila closed down a main road leading to the Rumaila oil field, which produces more than one-third of the country’s oil. On Friday at Umm Qasr port, local residents began blocking the only road leading into the facility, threatening to bring commerce there to a halt a… 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
Category:

Oil market loses faith in Saudi strategy: Kemp

Saudi Arabia’s strategy for rebalancing the oil market through a period of lower prices shows few signs of working so far – with rival producers claiming they will raise output even as prices slide to new lows. Saudi policymakers insist the kingdom will maintain its market share and let low prices take care of the surplus by forcing cuts from higher cost producers and stimulating fuel demand. With prices down by more than half compared with the same point in 2014, oil consumption is growing at some of the fastest rates for a decade. There are signs output growth from shale drillers and other producers outside OPEC is starting to slow, but it is not falling yet. Within OPEC, other producers, principally Iraq and Iran, are determined to continue raising their output even as prices slump. “We will be raising our oil production at any cost and we have […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Kuwait Says Oil Rout Heightens Need for Domestic Investments

OPEC member Kuwait said the global plunge in oil and financial markets heightens the need for the country to press ahead with investment spending and diversify revenue sources. Finance Minister Anas Al-Saleh briefed the cabinet on the market turmoil, the state-run Kuna news agency reported on Monday. Brent fell below $45 a barrel on Monday for the first time since 2009 on concerns a global supply glut may be worsening. The plunge in oil prices has sent stock markets in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, tumbling. Kuwait’s benchmark index dropped 1.6 percent on Monday to the lowest level since November 2012. The cabinet “stressed the need to implement” measures outlined by the Ministry of Finance to the parliament about diversifying sources of income, Kuna reported. Capital investment spending must also continue, it said. Kuwaiti officials are considering introducing corporate taxes for both local […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple