Announcement of advance, which some dispute, comes as forces continue targeting ISIL from Tigris River's western side. The Iraqi army says its US-backed forces have captured a bridge that leads to the ISIL-held city centre from the south, in a new push to drive out the armed group also known as ISIS. The army on Monday said the bridge, which it named as "al Hurriya", is the second to be reclaimed. The first was seized in the south during the offensive…

Twelve people, including women and children, are being treated for possible exposure to chemical weapons agents in Mosul, where ISIL is fighting off an offensive by US-backed Iraqi forces, according to the UN. The UN's World Health Organization said in a statement on Saturday that with partners and local health authorities it activated "an emergency response plan to safely treat men, women and children who may be exposed to the highly toxic chemical". Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, called for an…

Over 28,000 have been forced from their homes since operation to retake western Mosul started on February 19, says UN. Intense battles between Iraqi security forces and ISIL fighters in Mosul are causing increasing numbers of displaced people, with 4,000 civilians fleeing the city each day, according to the United Nations. More than 28,000 people have been forced from their homes since a coalition of US-backed Iraqi forces launched an offensive on February 19 to retake the western sector of…

KUT - Three people were wounded by gunfire as Iraqi forces dispersed a demonstration Tuesday by students who threw stones at the premier during a visit to Kut, officials and witnesses said. A student said demonstrators were wounded when security forces fired to disperse them in the city south of Baghdad. An officer and a doctor confirmed that people were hit by gunfire but did not say who was responsible. The demonstration began as Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi visited Wasit…

Video evidence of executions and torture stokes Sunni-Shia tension as troops launch final push to retake city from Isis Graphic videos of men in Iraqi security force uniforms carrying out beatings and summary executions on the streets of Mosul have cast a shadow over the campaign to retake the city from Islamic State as prime minister announced the launch of military operations. “We announce the start of a new phase in the operation, we are coming Nineveh to liberate the…

The U.S. military is "not in Iraq to seize anybody's oil", Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said, distancing himself from remarks by President Donald Trump, as he held talks with Iraqi leaders on Monday. Mattis was the highest-ranking Trump administration official to visit Iraq since Trump irked Iraqis with a temporary ban on travel to the United States and for saying America should have seized Iraq's oil after toppling Saddam Hussein in 2003. Trump told CIA staff in January: "We should have…

(Erbil) – Armed forces fighting Islamic State (also known as ISIS) to retake a town and four villages near Mosul looted, damaged, and destroyed homes, Human Rights Watch said today. There was no apparent military necessity for the demolitions, which may amount to war crimes and which took place between November 2016 and February 2017. The Iraqi authorities should investigate allegations of war crimes and hold those responsible to account, Human Rights Watch said. The United States and other countries…

Grim footage has emerged from eastern Mosul, supposedly “liberated” from Daesh control late last month,showing members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and men who appeared to be from the Shia-dominated Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) paramilitary organisation executing unarmed men in the streets. The footage shows armed Shia militants, who are fighting under the banner of Iraq, dragging a bound and clearly terrified man through the streets. The militants are heard abusing the man, and can be clearly seen beating…

Archbishop Bashar Warda said the Church wanted displaced people to return to their villages in peace and security Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil has unveiled plans to provide a future for Iraq’s displaced Christians – despite fresh reports showing the extent of the destruction of their homes in the Nineveh Plains. Archbishop Warda said the Churches aim to rebuild “so that the IDPs (internally displaced people) are able to return to the villages of their forefathers with hope and security”.…

Shi’ite Muslim militias have reportedly been using weapons from Iraqi military stockpiles. Militias fighting alongside Iraqi troops against Islamic State are committing war crimes using weapons provided to the Iraqi military by the United States, Europe, Russia and Iran, Amnesty International said on Thursday. The rights group said that predominantly Shi’ite Muslim militias, known collective as the Hashid Shaabi, were using weapons from Iraqi military stockpiles to commit war crimes including enforced disappearances, torture and summary killings. Parliament voted for…