أرشيف الوسم : iraq

Michael Fallon, the United Kingdom’s Defense Secretary, said that the British Air Force would drop food to Iraqi refugees running away from extremists in “the next couple of days” although the UK ruled out any military action, unlike the United States, who sent two fighter jets to Iraq. The announcement came after the British Foreign Office urged Brits in Arbil, …

Thousands of people on Twitter, both Muslims and Christians, have expressed solidarity for Christians being persecuted in Iraq using #WeAreN. Last week, members of extremist group Islamic State (IS) drove Christians out of the Iraqi city of Mosul – Christians have been living in the city for over 2,000 years. They were given the option of fleeing the city, paying …

How Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki plans to defeat the horribly abusive Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) and other Sunni groups that have seized control of large swathes of Iraq remains unclear. And under his government’s new media regulations, the Iraqi public isn’t likely to find out. The new guidelines, issued on June 18 by the state media …

IRAQ: More than 1,000 killed in Iraq violence in June 500,000 existing refugee population in Iraq 300,000 additional refugees throughout June as fighting between Islamist militants and the government continued (Sources: http://online.wsj.com/articles/refugee-numbers-in-iraq-rise-by-300-000-amid-fighting-1402665943, http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/iraq-turmoil/iraq-violence-killed-more-1-000-june-united-nations-n139116, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=48117) SYRIA: 1.1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon 35 percent of Lebanon’s population are Syrian refugees 30,000 people, including Lebanese, without access to safe drinking water 20 percent unemployment rate in Lebanon, compared to 10 percent last year …

Elite government forces, supported by the Hezbollah converged in the city of Aleppo on Tuesday as rebels boosted their own forces in preparation for a major showdown, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The monitor’s director Rami Abdel Rahman said that it was likely that government forces will lay siege to rebel-controlled parts of Aleppo; rebels, fighting to depose …

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff on Thursday said that Iraqi forces were shored up around Baghdad but will need external help to regain some of the territory it lost to the militant offensive sweeping across the nation. He added that American military advisers were evaluating the Iraqi army’s condition, and suggested that US military …

Militant group Islamic State (IS) on Thursday seized control of the Al-Omar oil field on the Iraqi border as fighters from rival groups withdrew,the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. By capturing the Al-Omar oil field, the militant group now controls most of the gas and oil fields on the province of Deir Ezzor, most of which is already under …

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Wednesday offered general amnesty in a rare conciliatory move to undermine support for militants; large swathes of Iraqi territory has been overrun by a militant offensive which threatens to tear the country apart. Maliki’s offer comes after a ridiculous opening to the parliament, despite leaders all over the world urging fractious politicians in Iraq …

The US government on Tuesday pressed for the formation of a new Iraqi government as soon as possible and warned that “time is not on Iraq’s side”. “It was important that Iraq’s new parliament convened today, as they pledged to do. That was a good thing. But we do hope that Iraq’s leaders will move forward with the extreme urgency …

On Friday, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, urged his nation’s political leaders to overcome their differences and form a government that could see off the advances of militants who have swept through large swathes of the country. Sistani,, who is a revered cleric within the Shi’ite majority community and whose stature dwarfs that of all politicians in …