Category: Iraq

Money changers count wads of Iraqi dinars in Baghdad on Oct. 1, 2012. (SAAD SHALASH/Reuters) Money changers count wads of Iraqi dinars in Baghdad on Oct. 1, 2012. (SAAD SHALASH/Reuters) The value of Iraq’s currency is falling – a new symptom of the ongoing financial crisis that the government is struggling to contain.Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Thursday called a meeting of his economic crisis team in the Cabinet to emphasize the importance of protecting the value of the Iraqi dinar."The Prime Minister stressed the need for follow-up and addressing any emerging issues, particularly maintaining the value of the dinar against the dollar in the domestic market," Ab… 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 .

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LONDON Iraq’s oil exports have averaged 3.20 million barrels per day (bpd) so far in June, according to loading data and an industry source, setting shipments from OPEC’s second-largest producer on course for a record high. Another boost from Iraq underlines the focus of major members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in keeping market share, not restraining supply to support prices. OPEC met on June 5 and kept its policy unchanged. Exports from Iraq’s southern terminals have averaged 3.00 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first 15 days of June, according to shipping data seen by Reuters and an industry source, up from 2.69 million bpd in all of May. Shipments have jumped after Iraq’s decision to split the crude stream into two grades, Basra Heavy and Basra Light, to resolve quality issues. Some companies working at Iraqi oilfields have increased production following the move. […]

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A tug boat maneuvers near an oil tanker at the Al-Basra Oil Terminal. (BEN LANDO/Iraq Oil Report) Halfway through Basra Heavy’s first month on the market, Iraq’s new crude grade is averaging nearly 629,000 barrels per day (bpd), and is on track to propel the country to another record month of exports.So far in June, Iraq’s southern exports are averaging almost 3.07 million bpd, according to tanker loading data obtained and compiled by Iraq Oil Report.* If that rate continues for the second half of the month, it would be an increase of 376,000 bpd – nearly 14 percent – over May’s 2.69… 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 .

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BAGHDAD Islamic State militants attacked government forces and their Shi’ite militia allies on Saturday, killing 11 near the city of Baiji as part of the battle for control of Iraq’s biggest refinery, army and police sources said. Four suicide bombers in vehicles packed with explosives hit security forces and the local headquarters of the Shi’ite militias in the area of al-Hijjaj, 10 km (6 miles) to the south of Baiji town, near the refinery, sources at the nearby Tikrit security operations command said. Iraqi government forces and powerful Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias face Islamic State on several fronts in Iraq, a major oil producer and OPEC member. They include areas around Baiji refinery, north of Baghdad, and the city of Ramadi west of the capital, seized last month by Islamic State, the ultra-hardline Sunni group that poses the biggest threat to Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. […]

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Photo Kurdish fighters after a clash with the Islamic State in March. They have managed to retake and hold significant territory. Credit Iraq/Reuters SULTAN ABDULLAH HILLS, Iraq — Since retaking these barren hills in northern Iraq from the jihadists of the Islamic State, Kurdish pesh merga forces have dug in: excavating trenches, unfurling barbed wire and coordinating with the United States-led military coalition to identify targets for airstrikes. The new outposts dotting the hilltops provide clear views of villages where Islamic State jihadists build truck bombs and launch attacks, but the Kurdish forces have no plans to advance, saying the territory is not theirs to fight for. “Now our main job is defense,” said Maj. Gen. Mohammed Khoshawe, a field commander. “To defend the Kurds, this is the farthest we go.” The ability of Kurdish forces in northern Iraq to retake and defend territory has been a rare success […]

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WASHINGTON—The Obama administration is considering opening a network of new bases in Iraq like the hub being established west of Baghdad, the nation’s top military officer said, something that would deepen the U.S. role in the war against Islamic State. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, outlined the possibility of several new bases across Iraq as the U.S. looks for ways to help Baghdad gain the upper hand against the extremist militants. Each base could require additional U.S. troops, but it was unclear how many or whether an overall troop increase would be needed. Gen. Dempsey’s comments, to reporters accompanying him on a trip to the Middle East and Europe on Thursday, come a day after the White House formally announced a plan to open a new training site in Anbar province , west of Baghdad. The U.S. will deploy up to 450 new troops […]

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Photo United States Army trainers instructed Iraqi Army recruits at a military base in Taji, Iraq, in April. The United States now has about 3,000 troops in Iraq. Credit John Moore/Getty Images WASHINGTON — President Obama has authorized the deployment of up to 450 more American troops to Iraq to train and assist the Iraqi forces battling the Islamic State, the White House announced on Wednesday, signaling a major shift of focus in the fight against the Sunni militant group. The United States forces will use Al Taqqadum, an Iraqi base near the town of Habbaniya in eastern Anbar Province, as their training hub, the White House said. Mr. Obama opted to send them at the request of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq, and after consultation with Ashton B. Carter, the secretary of defense, and Gen. Martin E. Dempsey , the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. […]

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WASHINGTON — In a major shift of focus in the battle against the Islamic State, the Obama administration is planning to establish a new military base in Anbar Province and send 400 American military trainers to help Iraqi forces retake the city of Ramadi. Although a final decision by the White House has yet to be announced, the plan follows months of behind-the-scenes debate about how prominently plans to retake another Iraqi city, Mosul, which fell to the Islamic State last year, should figure in the early phase of the military campaign against the group. The fall of Ramadi last month effectively settled the administration debate, at least for the time being. American officials said Ramadi is now expected to become the focus of a lengthy campaign to regain Mosul at a later stage, possibly not until 2016. The United States Central Command’s emphasis on retaking Mosul depended critically […]

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CAIRO — Islamic State militants staged attacks near Baghdad and the Libyan city of Surt on Tuesday, underscoring the group’s persistent strength on both fronts despite a monthslong American-led air campaign against it in Syria and Iraq . In Libya, the Islamic State captured a critical power plant along the coastal road westward from its stronghold in Surt toward Misurata, a commercial center whose powerful militias are the backbone of a coalition that controls the capital, Tripoli. The loss was the second significant retreat in less than two weeks by the Misuratan militia that the provisional government in Tripoli had originally sent to expel the Islamic State from Surt. More than 1,500 miles to the east in Iraq, two gunmen wearing suicide vests attacked a local council building in Amiriyat al Falluja, a bold incursion into the center of a city about 37 miles southwest of Baghdad. The city […]

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