Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
by Ammar Karim Agence France-Presse BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) – Iraqi forces advanced Thursday after declaring a new phase in their offensive on eastern Mosul, stepping up efforts to reclaim the Islamic State group’s last major stronghold in the country. Elite forces have reconquered several parts of eastern Mosul since beginning the massive operation to recapture the northern city from the jihadists on October 17, but IS still occupies the city’s west. Security chiefs said several […]
by Kamal Taha Agence France-Presse AMMAN, Jordan (AFP) – Gunmen killed four Jordanian policemen in a new shootout Tuesday in Karak, where a weekend attack claimed by the Islamic State group left 10 people dead, an official said. Security forces came under fire during an operation to track down suspects following Sunday’s assault, whose victims included a Canadian tourist, government spokesperson Mohammed Momani said. “The operation is ongoing but has entered its final stages and […]
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 […]
KHAZIR, Iraq (AFP) – by Rouba El Husseini Ihsan Ismail has spoken to his family just twice in a month. In the desperate flight from their village outside Mosul they were separated and are now confined to different camps for the displaced. More than 70,000 people have fled their homes since Iraqi forces launched their offensive on October 17 to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, from the Islamic State group. As if living under IS rule […]
ALEPPO, Syria (AFP ) – by Karam al-Masri with Sara Hussein in Beirut Syria’s rebels lost all of the northern neighbourhoods of their stronghold in east Aleppo on Monday, as the army made significant advances in its offensive to recapture the entire city. The regime gains have prompted an exodus of thousands of desperate civilians, some fleeing to districts held by the government or Kurdish forces, others heading south into areas still under opposition control. […]
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 […]
BASHIQA, Iraq (AFP) – by Maya Gebeily with Delil Souleiman in Ain Issa, Syria Iraqi Kurdish forces have seized the town of Bashiqa near Mosul from the Islamic State group, an official said Tuesday, as US-backed militia forces advanced on the jihadists’ Syrian stronghold Raqa. Capturing Bashiqa would be one of the final steps in securing the eastern approaches to Mosul, three weeks into an offensive by Iraqi forces to retake the country’s second city. Iraqi […]
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 […]
