UN: IS kills hundreds, kidnaps thousands around Mosul
Islamic State fighters have killed more than 250 people and kidnapped nearly 8,000 families around Mosul in recent days as Iraqi troops advanced on the northern city, the United Nations said today. UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva that the jihadists are forcing civilians living in districts around Mosul into the city, hoping to use them as human shields in an upcoming battle. Those targeted in...
IS raid in Iraq’s Kirkuk kills 46, mostly security forces
An ongoing attack by the Islamic State group in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk has killed at least 46 people, mostly members of the security forces, security and medical sources said today. “We have 46 dead and 133 wounded, most of them members of the security services, as result of the clashes with Daesh (IS),” an interior ministry brigadier general told AFP. The toll was confirmed by a source at the Kirkuk health directorate....
US general: IS leaders abandoning Mosul
Islamic State group leaders have been fleeing Mosul as US-backed local forces close in on the jihadists’ last Iraqi stronghold, a US general said Wednesday. US Army Major General Gary Volesky, who heads the land component command of the US-led coalition to defeat IS, predicted that foreign fighters will end up forming a large contingent of jihadists remaining in the city, as they have nowhere else to go. An estimated 3,500 to...
Iraq makes gains in ‘difficult’ assault on IS-held Mosul
Tens of thousands of Iraqi forces were making gains from the Islamic State group in Mosul Tuesday in an offensive US President Barack Obama warned would be a “difficult fight”. With the crucial battle in its second day, Iraqi commanders said progress was being made as fighters pushed on two main fronts against the jihadists’ last stronghold in Iraq. The US military, which is leading a coalition providing air and...
Iraq forces advance on IS stronghold of Mosul
Iraqi forces are “ahead of schedule” in an offensive aimed at retaking Mosul and dealing a death blow to the Islamic State group, but the battle will be difficult and protracted, the Pentagon has said. The start of the long-awaited assault raised deep concerns for hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in Iraq’s second-largest city, with aid groups warning of a massive humanitarian crisis. Some 30,000 federal...
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