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by Dave Clark Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States – The US-led coalition against the Islamic State group vowed to crush the jihadists Wednesday at a meeting overshadowed by an attack in London and civilian deaths in Syria. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson welcomed his counterparts from the mainly Western and Arab 68-nation alliance to Washington with a promise to hunt down IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. But he also warned the coalition is “not in […]
by Frank Zeller with Michelle Fitzpatrick in Frankfurt Agence France-Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) – The Islamic State group on Tuesday claimed responsibility for a truck rampage through a Berlin Christmas market that killed 12 people, as German police hunted for the attacker. “A soldier of the Islamic State carried out the Berlin operation in response to appeals to target citizens of coalition countries,” the IS-linked Amaq news agency said, without identifying the perpetrator. The claim came […]
HILLA, Iraq (AFP) – by Abbas al-Ani with Max Delany in Mosul A suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State group killed at least 70 people, mainly Shiite pilgrims, south of Baghdad Thursday, in the latest jihadist attack as Iraqi forces battle to retake Mosul. The huge truck bomb blast ripped through a petrol station where buses packed with faithful returning from the Arbaeen commemoration in Karbala were parked, officials said. Most of the victims […]
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) – by W.G. Dunlop and Ali Choukeir Iraqi forces have broken into jihadist-held Mosul and recaptured neighbourhoods inside the city, but a month into their offensive, there are still weeks or more of potentially heavy fighting ahead. Iraq launched the massive operation to recapture Mosul, which has been held by the Islamic State group since 2014, on October 17, advancing on the city from the north, east and south. Iraq’s elite Counter-Terrorism Service […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) – by Laurent Barthelemy with Cecile Feuillatre in Paris As Iraqi forces backed by a US-led coalition inch towards the Islamic State group in Mosul, experts and security sources warn that any assault on the jihadists’ main Syrian stronghold of Raqa would be even more difficult. The US and British defence ministers said on Wednesday they expected an assault to drive IS from its de facto capital of Raqa to begin in […]
NAWARAN, Iraq (AFP) – by Wilson Fache with W.G. Dunlop in Qayyarah Elite Iraqi forces Thursday retook a town on the eastern edge of Mosul while Kurdish peshmerga opened a new front in the offensive to wrest back the jihadists’ last bastion in Iraq. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told an international meeting in Paris that the four-day-old offensive was “advancing faster than expected”. France and Iraq were co-chairing the meeting on the future of Mosul, […]
ALBUQUERQUE, United States (AFP) – by Thomas WATKINS The United States is sending about 600 extra troops to Iraq to train local forces for an upcoming offensive on the Islamic State group stronghold of Mosul, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Wednesday. IS seized Mosul along with other areas in June 2014, but the country’s forces have since regained significant ground from the jihadists and are readying for a drive to retake Iraq’s second largest city. “These […]
KIRKUK, Iraq (AFP) – by Hassan al-Obeidi Iraqi forces launched an operation on Tuesday to retake a northern town from the Islamic State group in the latest move to prepare a broad offensive on jihadist bastion Mosul. Army and tribal forces pushed towards Sherqat, which IS fighters captured more than two years ago when they swept across Iraq’s Sunni Arab heartland. The town lies on the west bank of the Tigris river in Salaheddin province, 260 […]
DAMASCUS, Syria (AFP) – by Rim Haddad Bombings claimed by the Islamic State group killed dozens in mainly government-controlled areas of Syria on Monday, as Washington and Moscow failed to agree a deal to stem the violence. The blasts killed at least 48 people and wounded dozens a day after IS lost the last stretch of the Syria-Turkey border under its control. In China, where world powers were gathered for the G20 meeting, US President […]
QAYYARAH, Iraq (AFP) – by Abdelhamid Zebari Iraqi forces on Thursday pushed the Islamic State group from Qayyarah, a northern town considered strategic for any future offensive against the jihadists’ last stronghold of Mosul. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi hailed the victory as a key step in the fight against IS but hours later suffered yet another political setback when lawmakers impeached his defence minister. Special forces, backed by US-led coalition air strikes, wrapped up a three-day […]
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) – by Stuart WILLIAMS Turkey on Tuesday pounded Islamic State (IS) jihadists in Syria with new artillery strikes as expectations grew of a major Ankara-backed offensive against the group after a deadly suicide bombing on its soil. With tensions flaring on the Turkey-Syria border following the bombing in the nearby city of Gaziantep that left 54 people dead, Turkish howitzers on Monday hit jihadist and Kurdish rebel targets across the frontier. Turkey has […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) – The United Nations said Tuesday it was rushing to build camps to accommodate what it expects to be a mass exodus from Mosul once a battle begins for Iraq’s second city. The UN refugee agency warned that an expected battle to liberate Mosul, the Islamic State group’s last major urban stronghold in Iraq, was likely to “dramatically worsen” the displacement situation in the country. Iraq is already facing one of the world’s […]
