At least 18 fighters from an Iraqi paramilitary group were killed in air strikes in eastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, just hours after a deadly attack on US-led coalition forces in Iraq. "The 18 Iraqi fighters" were killed in raids on positions of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi military network in the area of Albukamal, on the border with Iraq, the observatory said. Bombardment from three coalition planes struck the Imam Ali base and the Al-Hassyan area in…

Rockets struck Camp Taji where Iraqi, American and other coalition troops are based. BAGHDAD — A volley of rockets struck a sprawling military base north of Baghdad Wednesday evening, killing three service members, two of them Americans and one British, according to a United States official and an Iraqi military officer, both in Iraq. The attack came less than three months after a similar rocket attack killed an American contractor in Iraq, setting off a spiral of attacks that nearly led to war between the United…

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Three protesters have been killed and 47 others wounded since Sunday in clashes with Iraqi security forces in the capital’s infamous Khilani Square, according to an official statement by the semi-independent Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR).“Due to the clashes that occured on March 8 and 9 between protesters and security forces, at least 3 protesters have died,” the statement reads.  “Also 58 people have been wounded in the ongoing clashes,” the statement added. Rudaw English…

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi security forces have used an arsenal of weaponry against protesters in Baghdad and other cities, “nearly all of which are inappropriate as policing tools,” a new report by human rights monitor Amnesty International found Thursday. The ongoing protests began in Baghdad and several other southern Iraqi cities in October 2019 with demands for jobs, public services, and action against corruption. Following a brutal crackdown by Iraqi forces and pro-government militias, the protesters began to demand the overthrow…

Iraqi demonstrators started on Thursday morning to close several roads and traffic intersections and burn tires in Basra province, south to denounce the mechanism of choosing a candidate to form the next government, local witnesses said. The German news agency, DPA quoted the witnesses as saying that angry demonstrators have started since the early morning hours to cut off the commercial intersection and burnt tires and prevented the passage of vehicles and citizens. According to the sources, the intersection is critical in…

BAGHDAD: Iraqi protesters had been rallying against government incompetence, poor public services and foreign meddling for months before a novel coronavirus outbreak. Then the epidemic arrived and breathed new life to their grievances. "The real virus is Iraqi politicians," said Fatima, an 18-year-old protester and medical student from Baghdad. "We are immune to almost everything else." Across protest squares in the capital and southern hotspots, the anti-government demonstrators mobilised since October have started to take public health into their own hands.…

An Iraqi militia has accused the country's intelligence chief of being involved in the targeted assassination of Iranian commander Qassem Suleimani, and warned that his appointment as prime minister would mean "war on the people of Iraq". Following last week's announcement that Prime Minister-designate Tawfik Mohammed Allawi would be unable to form a new government, rumours have swirled over who President Barham Salih would task with the job. Mustafa al-Kazimi - who has been seen in the past as pro-Iran - was first mooted as a possible candidate in December, were the…

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi politicians failed on Thursday to agree on a new government, prolonging deadlock that has failed to resolve unprecedented mass unrest and has stalled the country’s recovery from years of war. Parliament adjourned a session to approve a cabinet proposed by Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Allawi because of a lack of quorum, state TV reported, after lawmakers who opposed his nominees boycotted the session. Political infighting and alleged widespread corruption have crippled Iraq’s efforts to recover from two…

The United States has declared the leader of the Iran-backed Kataib Hizbullah (KH) militant group in Iraq a terrorist following a number of recent rocket attacks on bases hosting U.S. and other foreign troops in Iraq. A State Department official on February 26 said the United States had listed Ahmad al-Hamidawi, head of the armed faction of the group, as a "specially designated global terrorist." The action will freeze U.S. assets that he might hold and make any transactions with him a…

The Trump administration on Wednesday blacklisted a militia leader in Iraq, saying his group was responsible for a rocket attack that killed an American contractor in December and turned its snipers on civilian protesters last year. The State and Treasury departments said they had designated Ahmad al-Hamidawi, the secretary general of Kataib Hezbollah, as a “specially designated global terrorist.” Americans are prohibited from doing business with him. Kataib Hezbollah, also known as the Hezbollah Brigades, is a Shiite militia whose…