Many families in the region have been left with next to nothing after being on the move for years due to conflict and resulting economic hardship. It is “impossible” for them afford fuel for heating and winter clothes to keep their children warm, the UN agency warned. Flash floods last month worsened the situation, said Peter Hawkins, the head of UNICEF operations in Iraq. “The devastating floods have made this winter even more difficult for displaced children who are extremely vulnerable…

While Iranian assassins have targeted opponents across Iraq’s political and sectarian spectrum, many have been Shiites Iran has reportedly being using hit squads to silence its opponents in Iraq, according to British security officials that provide military training to Iraqi soldiers. Ever since Iran-backed candidates failed to secure victories in Iraq’s May election, Tehran has been deploying the squads to intimidate—and eliminate—those criticizing the Islamic Republic’s influence in the country. The security officials also revealed that Qasem Soleimani, commander of…

A large military delegation, headed by Iraqi Chief of Staff Othman al-Ghanmi, arrived in the Nineveh province to address the latest security developments after a spike in ISIS activity in the region.The visit reflects the importance the military command places on Nineveh, the province through which ISIS entered Iraq in 2014. The visit was also made after Sadrist movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr tweeted that “Mosul was in danger” and that it was falling prey to terrorism and corrupt figures.The Qarar…

The killing of a Muslim cleric who demonstrated over poor public services in Basra undermines the pillars of democracy in Iraq, a member of the parliament-elected Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR) told The National. Sheikh Wissam Al Ghrawi was shot and killed by unknown assailants outside his home after he encouraged protesters to take up arms over Basra's poor public services, police said. He was filmed at a protest on Friday saying clerics would issue a fatwa within days…

Saddat Al Hindiyah, Iraq: Iraqi fish farmers south of Baghdad have been left reeling after finding thousands of dead carp mysteriously floating in their cages or washed up on the banks of the Euphrates. Piles of the dead silvery fish, along with a few car tyres and plastic bags, could be seen on Friday lying under a massive concrete bridge. They covered the surface of deeper water nearby, providing rich pickings for birds circling above. And in the fish farms…

Iraq's government is facing renewed pressure from the southern city of Basra to provide adequate public services, with nearly 120,000 people admitted to hospital with water poisoning. The oil hub has seen growing public anger over poor infrastructure, contaminated water and lack of jobs in a region that generates the majority of the country's oil wealth. "The renewed calls for protests are more about economic worries than political grievances, we are concerned about the new government's inability to provide public…

Basra (IraqiNews.com) Water contamination in Iraq’s southern province of Basra has caused more than 110.000 people to fall sick,  an official in the province said as it struggles to overcome a water crisis that caused recent protests. Baghdad Today quoted Mahdi al-Tamimi, head of the Human Rights Commission’s office in Basra, saying in press statements that “poisoning cases in the province are on the rise, which denotes the absence of solution to water salinity and contamination”. “Cases caused by the…

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday the United States has ordered a temporary relocation of diplomatic personnel in Iraq because of growing threats to U.S. diplomatic facilities by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force and its allied militias in Iraq. In a written statement Pompeo said, “Given the increasing and specific threats and incitement to attack our personnel and facilities in Iraq, I have directed that an appropriate temporary relocation of diplomatic personnel in Iraq take…

WASHINGTON—The State Department will close the U.S. consulate in Basra, Iraq, and evacuate the diplomats stationed there, citing security risks from Iran, according to administration officials. The U.S. post in the southern Iraqi city, one of three U.S. diplomatic missions in the country, will be shuttered following mounting, credible threats from Iranian and Iranian-backed forces in Iraq, a senior administration official said. Mr. Pompeo also warned Iran in messages sent through diplomatic channels that the threats are unacceptable, the senior…

A female human rights activist has been shot dead in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, which has seen violent anti-government protests in recent weeks. Video posted online appears to show an unidentified man opening fire at Suad al-Ali as she gets into a car near a supermarket in the Abbasiya area. Another man, believed to be her husband, was wounded in the attack. Mrs Ali, who supported the protests, was head of an organisation called al-Weed al-Alaiami For Human…