Haider Al-Abadi

(MEE) — US forces have started to withdraw from Iraq, two months after Iraqi authorities declared victory over Islamic State, an Iraqi government spokesman said on Monday. “The American forces have begun reducing their numbers as victory has been achieved over Daesh,” the spokesman told Reuters. “Coordination continues, to maintain (US) assistance to the Iraqi forces in accordance […]

A political miscalculation by Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani – staging an independence referendum that prompted fierce retaliation by Baghdad – has set back hopes for a Kurdish state by decades, writes Joe Lauria. By Joe Lauria Masoud Barzani was…Read more →

@media(max-width: 600px) {.adace_adsense_59f39c3f20afd {display:block !important;}}
@media(min-width: 601px) {.adace_adsense_59f39c3f20afd {display:block !important;}}
@media(min-width: 801px) {.adace_adsense_59f39c3f20afd {display:block !important;}}
@media(min-width: 961px) {.adace_adsense_59f39c3f20afd {display:block !important;}}

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

Iraqi security forces have begun an operation against Kirkuk. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi claimed, in a statement, that troops were imposing security in the area “in cooperation with the people of Kirkuk and the Peshmerga.”
However, it is likely the operation is in response to the September 25 Kurdish independence referendum.

Official fears violence after 25 September independence vote, as disputes grow in areas controlled by Kurd forces outside original KRG borders.

(MEE) — Fears of fresh conflict in northern Iraq are bubbling to the surface weeks before Iraqi Kurds hold a contentious vote on independence, with warnings of war over disputed, ethnically mixed border regions and reports of Shia forces pushing Kurd officials from a town to prevent voting.

ISIS will now shift to using guerrilla tactics and will continue to feed off the state’s institutionalized sectarianism until the Iraqi government pulls itself together.

(MEE) — After fierce fighting which started on 17 October in Mosul and lasted more than eight months, turning most of the city’s neighborhoods into rubble, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced a victory over the Islamic State (IS) group on 10 July.

Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend said Iraq’s government had expressed interest in having US and coalition troops stay.

(MEE) — The United States and several coalition countries want to maintain a military footprint in Iraq after the eventual defeat of the Islamic State (IS) group, a top US general said on Tuesday.

Ever since 2003, the territorial integrity of Iraq has been shaken by sectarian violence. A country with fragile borders from its inception, after the illegal toppling of the Ba’athist government which was comprised of Sinni Muslims, Shi’a Muslims and Christians, the regions began to drift apart.

(ANTIWAR) During February, at least 2,748 people were killed and 1,224 were wounded. This is a large drop from January, when 4,176 were reported killed and 1,433 were injured. The reduction is likely due to an extensive break in the fighting in Mosul.

The timing of Iraq’s bombing of Syria continues to appear increasingly suspicious. The day after the bombing, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir visited Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Baghdad to congratulate him for his war against ISIS.