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Iraqis Make Gains Against Militants in Key City

Iraqi security forces and their tribal allies made gains in heavy fighting on Sunday in Ramadi, reclaiming parts of the city from Sunni militants aligned with Al Qaeda, security officials and tribal leaders said. But the insurgents appeared to maintain control of much of Falluja, another important city in Anbar Province, and had the upper hand in fighting on its outskirts. The government’s efforts to retake Falluja were set back by the apparent defection of some tribal militias, who are now siding with the Qaeda-linked militants, according to officials. The fight in Falluja is complicated by the widespread disenchantment of Sunnis in Iraq toward the policies of the Shiite-dominated government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. Some armed tribesmen with little sympathy for Al Qaeda and its desire to set up a Sunni Islamic state in Iraq have now apparently decided that the government is their greater […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iraqi air force strikes city to try to oust al Qaeda

Iraqi government forces battling an al Qaeda offensive near the Syrian border launched an air strike on Ramadi city on Sunday killing 25 Islamist militants, according to local officials. Government officials in western Anbar province met tribal leaders to urge them to help repel al Qaeda-linked militants who have taken over parts of Ramadi and Falluja, strategic Iraqi cities on the Euphrates River. Al Qaeda’s Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has been steadily tightening its grip in the vast Anbar province in recent months in a bid to create a Sunni Muslim state straddling the frontier with Syria. But last week’s capture of positions in Ramadi and large parts of Falluja was the first time in years that Sunni insurgents had taken ground in the province’s major cities and held their positions for days. Local officials and tribal leaders in Ramadi said that […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. Won't Send Troops to Iraq to Fight al-Qaeda

Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. won’t send troops to Iraq to help the government battle al-Qaeda-linked militants who have seized control of much of the city of Fallujah and nearby towns. “This is a fight that belongs to the Iraqis,” Kerry said at a news conference in Jerusalem today. “We’re going to do everything that is possible to help them,” while stopping short of putting boots on the ground, he said. The U.S. is in touch with tribal leaders in the region “who are showing great courage” against militants, he said. There is little appetite in the U.S. for renewed military involvement in Iraq, where 4,489 Americans were killed and 51,778 wounded in action after President George W. Bush ’s administration invaded the country almost 11 years ago. Obama has listed ending direct U.S. military action in Iraq two years ago as one of his main […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. Won’t Send Troops to Iraq to Fight al-Qaeda

Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. won’t send troops to Iraq to help the government battle al-Qaeda-linked militants who have seized control of much of the city of Fallujah and nearby towns. “This is a fight that belongs to the Iraqis,” Kerry said at a news conference in Jerusalem today. “We’re going to do everything that is possible to help them,” while stopping short of putting boots on the ground, he said. The U.S. is in touch with tribal leaders in the region “who are showing great courage” against militants, he said. There is little appetite in the U.S. for renewed military involvement in Iraq, where 4,489 Americans were killed and 51,778 wounded in action after President George W. Bush ’s administration invaded the country almost 11 years ago. Obama has listed ending direct U.S. military action in Iraq two years ago as one of his main […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil exports end 2013 down but banner year ahead

Oil exports end 2013 down but banner year ahead Iraqi oil exports in 2013 averaged 2.391 million barrels per day (bpd) for a total of $89.145 billion in revenue, a lower than expected performance as Iraq weathered storms in the south and attacks in the north but stayed largely on target with infrastructure enhancements that will add 3 million bpd of additional export capacity by 2015.Iraq has already witnessed its first oil sector attack of the new year, however, taking exports to Turkey offline.The Iraq-Turkey Pipeline (ITP) was att… 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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Iraq Fighters, Qaeda Allies, Claim Falluja as New State

Black-clad Sunni militants of Al Qaeda destroyed the Falluja Police Headquarters and mayor’s office, planted their flag atop other government buildings and decreed the western Iraqi city to be their new independent state on Friday in an escalating threat to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, whose forces were struggling to retake control late into the night. The advances by the militants — members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS — came after days of fighting in Falluja, Ramadi and other areas of Anbar Province. The region is a center of Sunni extremism that has grown more intense in reaction to Mr. Maliki’s Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad and the neighboring civil war in Syria. Assertions by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria fighters that they were in complete control of Falluja were disputed by government security forces and an alliance of tribal leaders who […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Scores Dead in Iraqi Battle With Al Qaeda-Linked Fighters

Iraqi security forces, backed by local tribesmen, fought on Friday to retake control of two cities from al Qaeda-linked fighters in the restive western province of Anbar, leaving scores of people dead. Police and military clashed with militants armed with machine guns and wearing black balaclavas on the outskirts of Fallujah throughout the afternoon, according to a local security official in Anbar province who declined to be identified because he isn’t authorized to speak to the media. The battle left 21 people dead, including at least a few women and children, as Iraqi forces employed helicopters, tanks and mortars to lay siege to the city. The latest assault on Fallujah marks the fourth government attempt to retake the city since Thursday evening, when Islamist fighters loyal to the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Shams, or ISIS, seized the vast majority of the city from the government, according to the […]

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Iraq's annual death toll highest in five years – UN

The UN’s head of mission urged the Iraqi authorities to address the roots of the violence The United Nations says at least 7,818 civilians and 1,050 members of the security forces were killed in violent attacks across Iraq in 2013. December alone saw at least 759 people killed, 661 of them civilians. The annual toll is the highest in five years, but still significantly below those recoded at the height of the sectarian conflict in 2006 and 2007. Violence has surged since April, when the Shia-led government launched a crackdown on a Sunni protest camp. Extremist Sunni militants linked to al-Qaeda subsequently stepped up attacks across the country, while Shia groups began deadly reprisals. ‘Sad and terrible record’ Tensions […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iraq’s annual death toll highest in five years – UN

The UN’s head of mission urged the Iraqi authorities to address the roots of the violence The United Nations says at least 7,818 civilians and 1,050 members of the security forces were killed in violent attacks across Iraq in 2013. December alone saw at least 759 people killed, 661 of them civilians. The annual toll is the highest in five years, but still significantly below those recoded at the height of the sectarian conflict in 2006 and 2007. Violence has surged since April, when the Shia-led government launched a crackdown on a Sunni protest camp. Extremist Sunni militants linked to al-Qaeda subsequently stepped up attacks across the country, while Shia groups began deadly reprisals. ‘Sad and terrible record’ Tensions […]

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75 al-Qaida militants killed in clashes in western Iraq

At least 75 al-Qaida-linked militants, including one of their top leaders, were killed on Friday in the clashes with Iraqi security forces and local tribesmen in western Iraq, police said. Fifty-two militants were killed in Ramadi, Anbar’s provincial capital city, and 23 others were killed in the nearby areas of the city, which is about 100 km west of Baghdad, a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Among the dead was Abdul Rahman al-Baghdadi, one of the leaders of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, commonly known as al-Qaida in Iraq, the police source said. Clashes continued on Friday in Ramadi and Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad, as Iraqi forces and tribesmen were fighting the al-Qaida militants who have been controlling some parts of the two cities. Tensions flared in the province on Monday when Iraqi […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple