Iraq

angelburst29 said:
A reporter with the Iraqi Kurdish media organization Rudaw was killed by a roadside bomb yesterday as she was working.

Kurdish Reporter Killed By Roadside Bomb in Iraq
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201702261051060635-reporter-killed-iraq/

Shifa Gardi, a 30-year-old presenter and chief of output at Rudaw, was covering the fight between Daesh and Iraqi government forces as Iraq wrests control from the city back from terrorists. She was presenting a special daily program on the Mosul offensive for Rudaw TV, and had recently started to cover the conflict from inside the embattled city, Rudaw said.

Cameraman Younis Mustafa was also injured in the attack.

In a statement on her death, Rudaw called Gardi one of their "most daring journalists." Rudaw is funded by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

Female reporter Nujiyan Erhan of the Kurdish RojNews agency who was covering fighting in northwestern Iraq has been severely injured, the news agency reports.

Female Journalist Severely Wounded in Kurdish Clashes in Northwestern Iraq
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703041051256967-female-reporter-wounded-iraq/

The reporter was wounded while covering clashes between the so-called Rojava Peshmerga forces and the Yazidi Shingal Resistance Units (YBS).

Erhan underwent surgery. Currently, she is in serious condition," RojNews said on Friday, adding that the journalist was injured in her head.

On Friday, the Rojava Peshmerga group attacked forces of the Yazidi Shingal Resistance Units (YBS) in the town of Knanesor, located in the northwestern Iraqi Shingal (Sinjar) area.

People of Shingal fought back, trying to stop the Rojava Peshmergas, and the local Yazidi Peshmerga forces were reportedly fighting the attackers as well.

The Rojava Peshmerga group is a paramilitary wing of the Kurdish National Council, supported by the Sinjar region’s ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). The YBS armed group is allegedly loyal to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), outlawed in Turkey.

Sinjar was fully liberated from Daesh, a terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries, by Kurdish-led forces in November 2015. Daesh captured Sinjar in August 2014, during the terrorists' second northern Iraq offensive.

The Kurds comprise ancient tribal groups, which are currently living in parts of Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. Kurdistan is an autonomous region of Iraq. Its status is formalized in the country’s constitution.


Chief of ISIL terrorist group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has relieved the group's Iraqi commanders from their duties in Mosul, a local source disclosed on Saturday.

Iraq: ISIL's Ring Leader Dismisses Iraqi Commanders in Mosul Battlefields
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The source in Nineveh province said that Al-Baghdadi has issued an order to dismiss all commanders who an Iraqi national as the final battle over West Mosul starts.

The source added that Al-Baghdadi has appointed non-Iraqi commanders to shoulder the task of defending the terrorist group in the Mosul neighborhoods still under ISIL's control.

"Al-Baghdadi does not trust his Iraqi commanders, specially after ISIL's recent defeats and loss of their defense lines in the battle in Western Mosul," the source who requested anonymity said.

A local source in Nineveh informed earlier today that more than 20 checkpoints belonging to the ISIL, West of Mosul, disappeared in few hours.

“More than 20 checkpoints belonging to the ISIL in the areas of al-Zera’i and Bab al-Taub, West of Mosul, disappeared along with their members in few hours,” the source said, Iraqi News reported.

“The disappearance of the checkpoints reflects the internal collapse of the extremist group, that started to appear obviously with the start of the battle to liberate Western Mosul,” the source added on condition of anonymity.

The battle to liberate Western Mosul was launched in 19 February 2017, after the announcement of Prime Minister and General Commander of Armed Forces Haider al-Abadi.


A local source in Nineveh informed that more than 20 checkpoints belonging to the ISIL, West of Mosul, disappeared in few hours.

Iraq: 20 ISIL Checkpoints Disappeared West of Mosul as Group on Verge of Full Collapse
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951214001055

“More than 20 checkpoints belonging to the ISIL in the areas of al-Zera’i and Bab al-Taub, West of Mosul, disappeared along with their members in few hours,” the source said, Iraqi News reported.

“The disappearance of the checkpoints reflects the internal collapse of the extremist group, that started to appear obviously with the start of the battle to liberate Western Mosul,” the source added on condition of anonymity.


A high-ranking Iraqi military commander said the ISIL terrorists have used internationally-banned chemical weapons in a recent attack on the liberated areas in Eastern Mosul as government forces and their allies are pushing to expel the extremists out of the country’s second largest city.

Iraqi Commander: ISIL Terrorists Launch Chemical Attack on Eastern Mosul
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The commander of the Iraqi rapid response forces, Captain Sa'adon Khaled al-Ramadani, added that the extremists lobbed a barrage of Katyusha rockets containing chlorine gas on al-Maliyah, Nabi Yunus and al-Faisaliyah neighborhoods of Mosul, Iraqi News reported.

A number of people were reportedly transferred to medical centers and hospitals after suffering severe poisoning with the toxic gas.

Noureddin Qablan, the deputy chief of the Nineveh Provincial Council, announced that a woman and her two children suffered skin burns and dyspnea after rockets laced with mustard gas slammed into Mosul's al-Samah and Northern Karaj neighborhoods.

Qablan stated that the trio were transferred to a hospital in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, to receive medical treatment.


The Iraqi military forces continued to advance in Nineveh province and seized back a strategic region in the Western part of the city of Mosul.

Iraq: Army Wins Back Key Region in Western Mosul
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"Wadi Hajr district is now under the full control of the Iraqi forces," Commander of Mosul Military Operations Major General Abdel Amir Rashid Yarallah said on Friday.

The ISIL terrorists sustained heavy losses in the Iraqi forces' offensives.

In a relevant development on Thursday, Iraqi government forces frustrated an attack by ISIL militants in Mosul as they press ahead with their operation to drive the terrorists out of their last urban stronghold in the Arab state.

An unnamed senior officer told reporters that a number of militants had managed to get near elite Iraqi units in the Southwestern part of Mosul, located some 400 kilometers North of the capital Baghdad, posing as internally displaced people.

The militants were neutralized before they could carry out any act of terror.


The first battalion of militants trained by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is now ready to join other Saudi-backed mercenaries fighting on the ground against Yemeni armed forces.

UAE-Trained Militias Ready to Join Yemen Battlefield
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951214000633

The official Emirates News Agency published video footage of a ceremony, marking the end of the pro-Saudi militants’ training process in the Yemeni port city of Aden, Shafaqna reported.

The ceremony was also attended by Brigadier General Saleh Ali Hassan, a deputy minister at Yemen’s former Defense Ministry.

He said the forces had been trained by Sudanese experts with the help of Emirati forces.

The UAE has been among the most active members of a coalition helping Saudi Arabia in its deadly military campaign against Yemen since early 2015. The war is aimed at reinstalling the government of former Yemeni president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who is based in Aden.

Saudi Arabia has also recruited and trained militants loyal to the former government for ground operations against Yemeni army forces and allied Houthi Ansarullah fighters under the cover of Riyadh’s air raids.


At least six civilians have lost their lives and several others sustained injuries when Saudi fighter jets carried out fresh aerial attacks against residential areas in Northern Yemen, using internationally-banned cluster bombs.

Civilians Dead as Saudi Bombers Pound Yemen with Cluster Bombs
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951214000472

Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said five people were killed and ten others injured when Saudi military aircraft struck the al-Barkah area of the Northwestern Yemeni province of Sa'ada on Friday afternoon, Arabic-language al-Masirah television network reported.

Saudi jets also launched a morning cluster bomb raid in the Hayran district of the Northwestern province of Hajjah, killing at least one person and injuring seven others.

Cluster bombs are banned under the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), an international treaty that addresses the humanitarian consequences and unacceptable harm caused to civilians by cluster munitions through a categorical prohibition and a framework for action.
 
Iraqi Forces Approaching the Center of Mosul, Baghdadi's Cousin Rumored to be Arrested
http://www.fort-russ.com/2017/03/iraqi-forces-approaching-center-of.html

Iraqi Army pushed deeper towards the center of Mosul on Sunday. So far four districts were captured. An unverified romour is also spreading that the cousin of Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, the supreme leader of ISIS, was arrested.

Chief of the Joint Operations Command’s operations in Nineveh, Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir Yarallah, said in a statement that the Federal Police and Rapid Response Forces units invaded the districts of Dindan and Dawasah, in the easternmost area of western Mosul. At the same time, the Counter-terrorism Force invaded Al Sumoud and Tal Al Rumman districts in the westernmost area of western Mosul.

Capturing Dawasah is of great importance as it will allow the Army to start moving towards the city center. It was reported that the Army is only about 400 meters away from the governmental and municipal buildings. Heavy clashes are currently ongoing between ISIS terrorists and the Iraqi forces. Several suicide attacks were reportedly thwarted. ISIS terrorists were also trying to put a pressure on the civilians by preventing them from leaving the areas. Fortunately the Iraqi forces were able to secure a safe passage and managed to evacuate about 450 families from the districts of Dawasah, Nabi Sheth and Aakidat.

The Iraqi Air Force also carried out airstrikes in the Najjar district of Mosul. The strikes resulted in the death of 4 ISIS terrorists, all of whom were Saudi citizens.


Over 45,000 people have fled western Mosul in Iraq in past few days as the coalition-backed government campaign to retake the Iraqi city gains momentum, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Sunday.

Military Operation in West Mosul Displaces Over 45,000 in More Than Week
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703051051278835-iraq-mosul-displaced/

Iraqi forces backed by the US-led coalition began the operation to liberate East Mosul from the Daesh group on February 17. The western part of the city was freed from the militants in January after a four-month battle.

"Number of people displaced [from] West Mosul are increasingly rapidly. In the last 9 days alone 7,619 families (45,714 individuals) displaced," Hala Jaber, an IOM consultant in Iraq, was quoted by the watchdog as saying on social media networks.

The IOM displacement monitoring service, DTM, released its estimates on Sunday, saying a total of 206,520 people had been displaced in Mosul since October 17 of last year.


The al-Qaeda terrorists stationed in the Southern parts of Yemen received a new cargo of weapons from Saudi Arabia.

Al-Qaeda Receives New Saudi Arms Cargo in Southern Yemen
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951215001470

France 24 news channel quoted local Yemeni sources as saying that a truck carrying a large number of weapons and ammunition moved to the Lodar region in Abyan province and delivered its cargo to al-Qaeda.

According to the sources, the truck was loaded in one of the Saudi-led coalition bases in Ma'arib province and sent to the Northern parts of Abyan province. The al-Qaeda-affiliated Ansar al-Shari'ah terrorist group received the cargo of weapons and ammunition, according to the report.

Earlier this week, a Yemeni intelligence source disclosed Saudi Arabia's attempts to reinvigorate al-Qaeda terrorist group in Abyan province through excessive arms shipments and aids.

"The al-Qaeda terrorists have received a cargo of weapons sent by the Saudi mercenaries stationed in Ma'arib, near Akad heights in Lodar city of Abyan province," the source told FNA on Tuesday.

According to the Yemeni activists in the Southern parts of the country, the forces loyal to General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar (fugitive president Mansour Hadi's deputy commander of armed forces) have sent the arms to al-Qaeda after the terrorist group's recent defeats in different cities of Abyan province, the source added.

The al-Qaeda terrorist group is fighting against the Yemeni army and popular forces in Yemen, while multiple reports and documents show that the terrorists are operating for the Saudi army after working out a deal last year.


The Iraqi volunteer forces (Hashd al-Shaabi) discovered a large amount of chemicals used for making weapons from the ISIL's military bases in Mosul.

Hashd Al-Shaabi Discovers 100 Tons of Military Grade Chemicals in Mosul
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"About 100 tons of chemical substances that the ISIL used to make explosives in Mosul has been confiscated from the terrorist group," Hashd al-Shaabi security center announced.

The large amount of the chemicals have reportedly been discovered in Koukajli region in the Eastern part of Mosul city.

In relevant remarks on Saturday, Iraqi Volunteer Forces Spokesman Ahmad al-Assadi voiced Hashd al-Shaabi's readiness to start fresh military operations to seize back all regions to the West of the city of Mosul in Nineveh province.

"As the grounds have been prepared for regaining control of Tal Afar we (Hashd al-Shaabi) are waiting for Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi to determine which military units will take part in the operations in Western Mosul," Al-Assadi told FNA in Baghdad.

He reiterated that the first phase of the Iraqi volunteer forces' operations in regions to the West of Mosul ended after seizing back 113 square kilometers of territories and taking back tens of villages as well as cutting the terrorists' supply routes.

"The Hashd al-Shaabi with all its units and groups has taken all the measures for starting the second part of the sixth phase of military operations to liberate the territories to the West of Mosul which includes the strategic Tal Afar region," al-Assadi added.

He pointed to Hashd al-Shaabi's support for other military forces participating in the Mosul liberation operations, and said, "The Iraqi volunteer forces will continue their support for the Iraqi Federal Police and counterterrorism units in a bid to pave the way for seizing back the remaining regions in Western Mosul."


An attempt by the ISIL terrorist group to dispatch reinforcement forces from Aleppo to Mosul failed after a tough battle with Iraqi popular forces that ended in heavy casualties for the terrorists.

ISIL Fails to Send Reinforcements from Aleppo to Mosul, Loses 150 Members
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Karim al-Nouri, a commander of Hashd al-Shaabi (Iraqi popular forces), was quoted by al-Ma'louma news website as saying that the ISIL was attempting to send two battalions of al-Farouq and al-Fatah from Aleppo province in Syria towards Tal Afar and al-Ba'jaj in Northwestern Iraq, but failed after facing the Hashd al-Shaabi forces' rapid reaction.

"These terrorists attacked the Hashd al-Shaabi's positions several times but the Iraqi forces could kill 150 of them and destroy tens of their vehicles and personnel carriers," he added.


At least seven Afghan police officers were killed on Sunday during an attack of the Taliban terror group, outlawed in Russia, in northern Afghanistan, according to media reports.

At Least 7 Afghan Police Officers Killed by Taliban Terrorists in Afghanistan
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703051051279860-attack-taliban-afghanistan-victims/

The attack occurred at the checkpoint in the province of Kunduz, the Xinhua news agency reported.

"The militants attacked after they stormed a post of local police in the Zhakhel district near the city of Kunduz early Sunday," an unnamed police officer told the news outlet.

The officer added that police had launched an investigation into the incident.


At least three commanders of the Taliban group were killed in an airstrike conducted by the Afghan Air Force in Northern Kunduz province of Afghanistan.

3 Key Taliban Commanders Killed in Kunduz Airstrike
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Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior said in a statement that the airstrike was carried out in Imam Sahib district, Khaama Press reported.

The statement further added that fifteen Taliban insurgents including three commanders of the group identified as Qari Mazlum, Qari Hejran, and Farooqi were killed in the airstrike.

At least three Taliban insurgents were also wounded in the airstrike, the ministry said, adding that five vehicles and some weapons were also destroyed.

The security forces and local residents did not suffer any casualties during the operation, the ministry said.

Kunduz is among the relatively volatile provinces in Northern Afghanistan where the Taliban insurgents are actively operating in its various districts and often conduct insurgency activities.

This comes as a senior leader of the Taliban group Mullah Abdul Salam was killed in an airstrike in Kunduz few days ago.


New footage of haggard adults and skeletal minors shows routine Yemeni existence roughly two years into Saudi Arabia’s invasion of the impoverished country.

New footage of haggard adults and skeletal minors shows routine Yemeni existence roughly two years into Saudi Arabia’s invasion of the impoverished country. (No video available)
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951215001258

The video, shot by the French news agency AFP at Thawra Hospital in the Western Hudaydah Province on Saturday, came less than a week after the UN relief aid chief warned Yemen was facing a “serious risk of famine.”

Locals are seen using jerrycans for water storage amid acute shortages. A woman is seen holding up a baby with an extended belly, while a local points to lesions across another’s body.

Inside the health facility, medical staff are struggling to sustain malnourished infants, and adults are seen scattered around in morbid states.

Speaking during a visit to Yemen's port city of Aden on Tuesday, UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Stephen O’Brien said seven million people in the country did not know where their next meal was coming from.

Of that figure, almost 3.3 million, including 2.1 million children, are suffering from acute malnourishment, he said.

Nineteen million out of the country’s 26-million-strong population are in pressing need of humanitarian assistance, O’Brien added.

The Saudi military launched its military campaign in support of Yemen's former government and imposed an all-out naval blockade on the country. The civilian death toll from the bombardments has exceeded 13,100.

The US and the UK provide coordinates for bombing sorties and military advice as well as the bulk of weapons in Saudi Arabia's ongoing campaign which has seriously damaged Yemen's infrastructure.
 
Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) managed to seize control of 80% of al-Shuhadaa and al-Samoud neighbourhoods in West Mosul during a fresh push launched on Sunday.

Iraqi Troops Gain Further Ground in Center of Mosul
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951216000296

Abdul Amir al-Sabaawi, a commander from the Iraqi Counter-terrorism Forces, told BasNews that "the counter-terrorism forces seized control of 80% of the districts of al-Shuhadaa and al-Samoud after storming them earlier in the morning."

Sabaawi said "their forces managed to gun down five suicide bombers and foil two car bombs during the incursions of the two districts."

He added that the Iraqi troops opened safe corridors for the residents in the heated districts for their escape.


Iraqi government forces took over a main bridge leading to Central Mosul’s Old City on Monday as operations to liberate the area occupied by ISIL militants continue, local media said.

Iraqi Forces Capture Strategic Bridge, Get Closer to Old Mosul
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Military sources told reporters that Iraqi forces had taken over al-Hurriya Bridge, one of five bridges linking both sides of Mosul across the Tigris River, Iraqi News reported.

Iraqi forces had recaptured another bridge to the South as part of the offensive which launched in February to clear Western Mosul from militants.

Five main bridges on the Euphrates River linking two halves of Mosul were destroyed during operations in Eastern Mosul to prevent ISIL militants from escaping to the West or receiving supplies from there. Iraqi generals said last week they were installing a floating bridge to allow backup from the East for the forces fighting in western Mosul.


Commander of Iraq's Border Guards in Anbar Province announced that his forces clashed with members of the ISIL terror group, West of the province, and he added that a number of the militants were arrested during the security operation.

Iraq Border Guards Clash with ISIL Militants West of Anbar, Several Arrested
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“A joint contingent of Iraqi Border Guards in Anbar, the command’s commando brigade and forces of Hashd al-Ashaeri raided Albu Hayat village, West of Trebil-Waleed intersection in Rutba District,310 km West of Ramadi,” Lieutenant General Ammar al-Kobessi,said in a press statement, Al Masdar reported.

“The security forces clashed with the ISIL members on the outskirts of the village, and managed to dismantle five improvised explosive devices and removed four others, which were planted in the area,” he further explained.

“A number of suspects were also arrested and several vehicle were seized in Albu Hayat village,” Kobessi added.

The clashes between ISIL militants and the Iraqi security forces took place as the Iraqi forces are pressing ahead with the operation to retake Western part of the key city of Mosul from ISIL.

Government forces have so far recaptured several areas in the city, including the international airport area, army bases, two key bridges and several Southern neighborhoods.
 
Several Iraqi politicians and legislators warned that the recent clashes between the two rival Kurdish groups, the Peshmerga Rojava and a local affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), in Northern Iraq are dangerous to the country's national security in the post-ISIL era.

Politicians View Differences among Kurds as Dangerous to Iraq's National Security
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"What is happening in the region is in line with plots to disintegrate and divide the region and naturally, the recent events will negatively affect the security of Iraq and the Kurdistan region," Hamed al-Matlak, a senior Iraqi lawmaker, told FNA on Monday.

Also, Abdullah al-Zaidi, a member of the Iraqi parliament's al-Tahalof fraction, expressed regret that such differences are happening as Iraq is fighting against the ISIL terrorist group and needs more integrity and unity.

"Such clashes and differences are not in the interest of the Iraqi people at all," he told FNA, calling for quests to find a solution to promote interaction and peaceful coexistence in the country.

The Kurds linked to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Iraq clashed with members of the Yazidi minority in Iraq, affiliated with the PKK, in the Sinuni area of Iraq’s Northwestern Sinjar region on March 3. The KDP, the main party in the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) which has close ties to the Turkish authorities and is at odds with the PKK, considers the area where the clashes took place to be part of the autonomous Kurdish region in Northern Iraq.

A large Yazidi population lives in Sinjar and after the KRG’s failure to protect them from the ISIL in 2014, some Yazidi groups were trained by the PKK to help them battle the jihadists.

The Peshmerga Rojava force is made up of Kurds from Syria and was formed and trained in Iraq with the backing of KRG President Masoud Barzani.

In a statement on March 3, the YBS, the PKK’s Sinjar branch, said the fighting began when the Peshmerga Rojava tried to seize its positions in the town of Hanasur. The YBS accused Turkey of instigating the violence.


The Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi made a scheduled trip to the front-lines in the Northern city of Mosul on Tuesday in order to inspect the Iraqi forces battling the ISIL terror organization in the flashpoint city.

Iraqi PM Visits Mosul Liberated Areas, Meets Frontline Soldiers
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Photos of Iraqi prime minister meeting with soldiers from the Iraqi Army and Federal Police were published by local media outlets, Al Masdar reported.
Local media also said the Iraqi prime minister also visited the liberated areas of Mosul.

Abadi’s visit to Mosul marks the first time in nearly three years that any Iraqi Prime Minister has traveled to the Nineveh province located in Northwestern Iraq.

The visit by the Iraqi prime minister came as latest reports said elite Iraqi forces dislodged ISIL militants from the main government buildings in Mosul on Tuesday, their last major city stronghold in Iraq.


Elite Iraqi forces dislodged ISIL militants from the main government buildings in Mosul on Tuesday, their last major city stronghold in Iraq, an Iraqi spokesman said.

Iraq Security Forces Take Mosul’s Main Government Complex, Museum Building
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Mosul’s main museum, which was damaged and looted by the militants, was also taken, Lieutenant Colonel Abdel Amir al-Mohammadawi, a spokesman for the elite interior ministry Rapid Response units said, ‌Iraqi News reported.

A special Rapid Response team stormed the Nineveh governorate building and the surrounding government complex in an overnight raid that lasted about an hour, he said.

Seizing the government complex would help Iraqi forces attack the militants in the nearby old city center and mark a symbolic step towards restoring state authority over Mosul, even though the buildings are destroyed and not being used by Islamic State.


The Iraqi army recaptured the Turkish consulate general in Mosul about three years after it fell to ISIL as the group overran Iraq’s second largest city, Iraqi military sources said on Tuesday.

Iraqi Forces Retake Turkish Consulate Building in Mosul after Nearly 3 Years Under ISIL
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The consulate is located at Dur Al-Dhubat Caddesi next to Al-Shekban Mosque in Western Mosul. It is between al-Tayyaran district, recaptured on Feb 26, and the fourth bridge of Mosul that came under the control of the Iraqi forces this week, Rudaw reported.

When ISIL captured Mosul in June 2014 it seized the Turkish consulate, holding 46 Turks and three Iraqis, hostage. All the hostages were released in September 2014.


US-led coalition forces have failed to provide air cover in areas where the Iraqi military and the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), also known as al-Hashd al-Shaabi, have conducted a joint operation aimed at pushing Daesh out of Mosul, Ali Ebu Tahir, a Turkmen commander with the PMF, told Sputnik Turkey.

US Planes 'Provide No Air Support' to Iraqi Militias Fighting Daesh in Mosul
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703071051345586-us-air-suport-mosul/

"Coalition planes have not provided aerial support in the areas where al-Hashd al-Shaabi forces taking part in the Mosul operation are located. They have been active only in those regions where Peshmerga and Iraqi troops are present. We have only received support from aircraft operated by government forces," he said.


Informed sources in Iraq disclosed that the US has trained tens of Iraqi army forces within the framework of 'Tiger Unit' to assassinate the senior commanders of Hashd al-Shaabi (Iraqi Volunteer Forces).

Iraqi Sources: US Training Special Forces to Assassinate Hashd al-Shaabi Commanders
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The Arabic website of Skypress quoted the sources as saying that the US forces have trained nearly 400 elite Iraqi forces and formed the Tiger Unit with 50 of them to assassinate Hashd al-Shaabi commanders, specially those who are opposed to the US army's presence in Iraq.

"These forces have been trained by the US intelligence officers and technical engineers to find the location of all commanders too," they added.

The report came after Commander of Asa'eb al-Haq Movement affiliated to Iraqi popular forces of Hashd al-Shaabi said last month that the US forces have been trying hard to evacuate ISIL commanders from the besieged city of Tal Afar West of Mosul.

After photos surfaced in the media displaying US forces assisting ISIL terrorists, Javad al-Talaybawi said that the Americans are planning to take ISIL commanders away from Tal Afar that is under the Iraqi forces' siege. In the meantime, member of Iraqi Parliament's Security and Defense Commission Iskandar Watut called for a probe into photos and footages displaying US planes airdropping aid packages over ISIL-held regions.

Watut further added that we have witnessed several times that US planes dropped packages of food stuff, arms and other necessary items over ISIL-held regions, and called on Iraq's air defense to watch out the US-led coalition planes.

Eyewitnesses disclosed in February that the US military planes helped the ISIL terrorists in Tal Afar region West of Mosul.

"We saw several packages dropped out of a US army aircraft in the surrounding areas of the city of Tal Afar in Western Nineveh province and six people also came out of a US plane in the ISIL-controlled areas," the Arabic-language media quoted a number of eyewitnesses as saying.


According to the US Department of Defense spokesperson, the US military has carried out a strike last night in Yemen targeting seven members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) terror group.

US Carries Out Strike in Yemen Against 7 al-Qaeda Fighters - Pentagon
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703061051319831-pentagon-yemen-strikes/

The US military has carried out a strike last night in Yemen targeting seven members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) terror group, US Department of Defense spokesperson Capt. Jeff Davis said in a briefing on Monday.

"We did have one additional strike last night in Yemen. We have now had more than 40 strikes in Yemen over the past five nights," Davis told reporters. "That [strike] was against seven AQAP fighters."

​In January, the United States conducted a raid in Yemen, which helped acquire important intelligence, according to the Defense Department. It also resulted in death of 14 terrorists and a US Navy SEAL.


US President Donald Trump accused former President Barack Obama's administration on Tuesday of making a terrible decision to release 122 detainees from the Guantanamo Bay detention center who later returned to fighting for terror groups.

Trump Claims 122 Gitmo Prisoners Released by Obama Returned to Battlefield
https://sputniknews.com/us/201703071051345819-trump-gitmo-obama/

According to data released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, nine out of 122 former Gitmo detainees believed to later be involved in terrorist operations were released under Obama, while 113 were released when President George W. Bush was in office.

"122 vicious prisoners, released by the Obama Administration from Gitmo, have returned to the battlefield. Just another terrible decision!" Trump stated in a Twitter post.

Trump’s comment came after Department of Defense spokesperson Capt. Jeff Davis said Monday that a US airstrike in Yemen killed Yasir al-Silmi, a former Gitmo detainee.

Yemeni-born al-Silmi was held in the detention center from 2002 to December 2009 and was later repatriated to Yemen.

According to the Defense Department, al-Silmi was an associate of al-Qaeda (banned in Russia) facilitator and explosives expert Usayd al-Adani, who was also killed in the March 2 strike.
 
In the follow up to the recent stand-off between the Iraqi authorities and the Iraqi Kurdish parties over the key oil installation in the city of Kirkuk, Kurdish and Iraqi experts explain to Sputnik Arabic what the conflict is all about.

Iraqi Kirkuk Once Again 'Driving Wedge' Between Baghdad and Kurdish Erbil
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703081051378143-iraq-kirkuk-oil-fields/

Iraqi Kurdish political parties and the central government of Baghdad have agreed to continue the flow of oil from Kirkuk’s oil fields through a pipeline to a Turkish export terminal on the Mediterranean en route to the global markets.

The deal comes after the units of Iraqi Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) last week stormed the state-run North Oil Company (NOC) in Kirkuk, which resulted in briefly stopping oil exports in an effort to force Baghdad to meet its demand for a share of the revenue and add an extra processing unit to Kirkuk’s oil refinery.

The Kurdish group also called for the 2016 Kirkuk oil sharing deal between Baghdad and the Kurdistan region "to be canceled within a week."

The move was aimed at forcing Baghdad to commit to an earlier deal agreed between Kirkuk's governor and the Iraqi oil ministry.

In January, they signed a deal between the province and Baghdad which includes more investment in the oil sector in Kirkuk and employment opportunities for the local people.

Reports however suggested that Baghdad has not paid Kirkuk province its share of revenues from oil sold from its fields since 2013.

On Wednesday, Iraq's oil minister announced that they have added a processing unit to Kirkuk’s oil refinery which increases its capacity by 10,000 barrels a day.

Commenting on the developments, Tarik Jaugar, Advisor at the Regional Parliament of Kurdistan told Sputnik Arabic that the new processing units are needed to meet the needs and demands of the local residents. However if the central government does not deliver on its promises then the regional politicians will decide to stop oil exports from the province.

The politician further explained that Kurdish Peshmerga units have been actively fighting against Daesh, securing the return of civilians to their homes thus losing its grip on the fulfilment of the deal.

Meanwhile, Iraqi military analyst Kasi al-Muatasam expressed the view of the Iraqi central government.

"Today's developments are the result of the concessions of the former government," he told Sputnik.

"When back in 2010 then Prime Minister al-Maliki wanted to remain in power for the next term, he offered the leaders of Iraqi Kurdistan to get their share of the Kirkuk oil in exchange for their support of his candidacy in the elections," he explained.

Then, he said, an article 140 was added to the country's Constitution which was supposed to help the Kurds to anchor their right for Kirkuk. The Kurds do need this region as without it, they do not have any resources, the analyst further said. The region holds 5 per cent of the world's oil resources.

However he further noted that none of the parties are eager to retreat, hence there is every opportunity that it is going to grow into a prolonged conflict.


A local source in Iraq’s city of Mosul told Sputnik that there are dozens of cases of children being injured as a result of a chemical attack carried out by Daesh terrorists. Similarly, the head of the information center of the People's Mobilization Forces of Iraq, Zu al-Fakkar al Baladawi, spoke to Sputnik about the use of chemical weapons.

Iraqi Militia Claims US Assists in Providing Jihadists With Explosive Materials
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703071051354291-iraqi-official-claims-us-assists-terrorists/

In the eastern part of the city, in the district of Rashidiya, the terrorists fired four missiles which were stuffed with the poisonous substance. The missiles were fired from the western part of the city, which is held by Daesh, according to the source.

The source further said that the latest chemical attack was allegedly carried out using the newest technical devices. For the first time ever, the chemicals were placed inside a rocket. Judging by the nature of the damage, the terrorists clearly used a very dangerous substance.

Earlier, a source from Iraq’s internal security force told Sputnik that Daesh used toxic gas in order to prevent the advance of the Iraqi army into the western part of Mosul.
Previously, bombs with toxic substances were dumped via unmanned aerial vehicles, or were put inside cars that the terrorists blew up as soon as soldiers approached.

One such attack resulted in the death of four servicemen.

According to the World Health Organization [WHO] at least 12 people, including women and children, are being treated after getting attacked by the chemical weapons in Mosul. The representative of the UN humanitarian mission in Iraq, Liz Grande, called for an investigation into the possible use of chemical weapons in the Iraqi city.

The head of the information center of the People's Mobilization Forces of Iraq, Zu al-Fakkar al Baladawi, told Sputnik that the topic of chemical weapons is a large part of the ongoing information war.

The first time Daesh used chemical weapons such as chlorine and other toxic substances were in the south of Salah ad Din Governorate. Back then the UN and the international community did not pay any attention to the investigations by the Iraqi side, the reports of some media outlets and the stories of the victims about their experience and the nature of injuries they had received,” Baladawi told Sputnik.

He further said that today, as the US-led coalition takes part in the liberation of Mosul, the topic of chemical weapons is actively being discussed at an international level.

“Although previously, we had been provided with a large amount of data on the presence of an impressive number of components used for the production of chemical bombs,” the head of the center said.

According to him the People's Mobilization Forces discovered over 100 tons of ammonia, which together with chlorine is used to produce explosives.

“Now that the Americans have taken the position of countering terrorism, they have begun to raise this issue,” Baladawi said.

He added that the chemicals used for making the bombs are not manufactured in Iraq, but are imported from abroad under special informal agreements.

“The United States provides assistance with supplying the terrorists with these chemicals. Parallel to that, they warn local residents about the dangers of the chemical attacks and thereby, raise their authority in the fight against the militants,” Baladawi concluded.

On March 1, patients with symptoms of exposure to an agent, which causes blisters, were treated at the hospital in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq, according to a WHO statement.


More than 30 people were killed in an attack on a military hospital in Afghanistan's capital of Kabul, the Defense Ministry said. It is reported that more than 50 people were wounded.

More Than 30 Killed, 50 Wounded in Hospital Attack in Afghan Capital
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703081051371803-kabul-hospital-attack/

Daesh terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack, AFP reports.

Officials said earlier that at least three people had been killed in the attack.

Early on Wednesday, an explosion and gunfire were reported near a military hospital in the Afghan capital, Kabul, close to the US embassy. The Defense Ministry officials said that there were four armed attackers, one of which blew himself up at the hospital's entrance. At this stage, all three remaining terrorists have been eliminated.
 
The Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba movement has formed a brigade to liberate the Golan Heights from Israel.

Iraqi Militia Creates Brigade to Liberate Golan Heights From Israel - Spokesman
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703091051390813-iraq-militia-liberate-golan-haeights/

The Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba movement, Iraq's Shiite militia organization, has formed a brigade to liberate the Golan Heights from Israel, spokesman for the movement, Seyed Hashem Moussavi said on Wednesday.

After recent victories (in Syria), we have established the Golan Liberation Brigade," al-Moussavi said at a press conference, as quoted by the Tasnim News Agency.

He added that "if the Syrian government requests, we are ready to take actions to liberate Golan."

According to the spokesman, the Golan Liberation Brigade is made up of highly-equipped and well trained special forces.

The movement is a paramilitary group, part of the Popular Mobilization Units, an Iraqi state-sponsored organization composed of some 40 militias, formed in opposition to the Islamic State (Daesh) terrorist group.

Israel occupied the Golan Heights in the 1967 Six-Day War with Syria and annexed the territory in 1981. The international community has not recognized the Israeli annexation.


Spokesman of Hezbollah al-Nujaba, a major Iraqi Shiite resistance movement fighting the ISIL, Seyed Hashem al-Moussavi announced the formation of a brigade to liberate the Golan Heights from Israeli occupation.

Spokesman: Iraq's Hezbollah Al-Nujaba Ready to Liberate Golan Heights
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951219000913

"After the recent victories (in Syria), we have established the Golan Liberation Brigade," al-Moussavi said on Wednesday.

Noting that the Golan Liberation Brigade is made up of highly-equipped and well-trained special forces, he said, "If the Syrian government requests, we are ready to take action to liberate Golan."

Israel occupied the Golan Heights in the 1967 Six-Day War with Syria and annexed the territory in 1981. The international community has not recognized the Israeli annexation.


Commander of Asa'eb al-Haq Movement affiliated to the Iraqi popular forces of Hashd al-Shaabi said that the US forces have carried out a rapid heliborne operation and evacuated two commanders of ISIL terrorists from Western Mosul in Northern Iraq.

Iraq: US Forces Evacuate ISIL Commanders from Western Mosul
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951219000621

Javad al-Talaybawi said that the US forces carried out the heliborne operation in one of the Western neighborhoods of Western Mosul, evacuating two senior ISIL commanders to an unknown location after the commanders came under siege by Iraqi government forces in intensified clashes in Western Mosul.

"Americans' support and assistance to the ISIL is done openly to save their regional plan in a desperately attempt," al-Talaybawi underlined.

Al-Talaybawi had warned late in February that the US forces tried hard to evacuate ISIL commanders from the besieged city of Tal Afar West of Mosul.

After photos surfaced in the media displaying US forces assisting ISIL terrorists, al-Talaybawi said that the Americans were planning to take ISIL commanders away from Tal Afar that is under the Iraqi forces' siege.

In the meantime, member of Iraqi Parliament's Security and Defense Commission Iskandar Watut called for a probe into photos and footages displaying US planes airdropping aid packages over ISIL-held regions.


CENTCOM commander Gen. Joseph Votel said that the United States and Iraq were working on a five-year plan to keep US forces in Iraq after the defeat of Daesh.

US, Iraq Working on 5-Year ‘Enhanced Cooperation’ Plan
https://sputniknews.com/politics/201703091051425433-usa-iraq-enhanced-cooperation-plan/

The United States and Iraq are working on a five-year plan to keep US forces in Iraq after the defeat of Daesh terrorist group, Central Command (CENTCOM) commander Gen. Joseph Votel said on Thursday.

Votel emphasized that Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was a willing partner and had clearly stated a desire for continued US support after Islamic State is defeated.

The Pentagon maintains US troops are supporting Iraqi forces in an advise and assist role in counter-Daesh operations at the invitation of the government.

In October, then-State Department spokesman John Kirby said there was no agreement between the two governments on a sustained US troop presence after Daesh is defeated.


Two explosions at a wedding party in a village north of the city of Tikrit in Iraq have taken the lives of over two dozen people, media report.

More Than 20 People Killed in Wedding Party Blasts in Iraq
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703091051392133-iraq-terror-blasts-kill/

The explosions, carried out by suicide attackers on Wednesday, killed at least 26 people, the Al Jazeera TV channel said citing medical and security sources.

Some media reports have put the death toll from the Wednesday attacks in Hajjaj village at 30.


An insurgent attack on Afghanistan's largest military hospital in Kabul ended after nearly six hours of gun battles on Wednesday, officials said.

Kabul Hospital Attack Ends after All Gunmen Killed
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951218001320

"The operation has ended. All the attackers have been killed. We are still assessing the damage," interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said, Dunya News reported.

Earlier, gunmen dressed as doctors stormed Afghanistan s largest military hospital, officials said, in an attack claimed by the ISIL terror group as it makes inroads into the war-battered country.

The assault on the Sardar Daud Khan hospital left at least three people dead and 66 others wounded, health officials reported, with explosions and gunfire rattling Kabul s diplomatic district as dense clouds of smoke rose in the sky.

Medical staff hunkered down in the hospital wards posted desperate messages for help on social media, with local television footage showing some of them trapped on the ledge of a top floor window.

"Attackers are inside the hospital. Pray for us," a hospital staff member wrote on Facebook.

Hospital administrators told AFP three gunmen wearing white laboratory coats were on the loose after a suicide bomber on foot blew himself up at the backdoor entrance, sparking chaos inside the 400-bed facility.

At least two other loud explosions, including what the defense ministry called a car bomb in the hospital s parking lot, were heard as Afghan special forces launched a clearance operation to rein in the attackers.

"Three attackers armed with AK-47s and grenades entered the building. Our commandos are chasing them," ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri told AFP four hours after the first explosion.

ISIL militants claimed the attack via a verified Telegram account.
 
Archaeologists documenting Isil’s destruction of the ruins of the Tomb of the Prophet Jonah say they have made an unexpected discovery which could help in our understanding of the world’s first empire.

Previously untouched 600BC palace discovered under shrine demolished by Isil in Mosul
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/27/previously-untouched-600bc-palace-discovered-shrine-demolished/?WT.mc_id=tmg_share_tw

28 February 2017 - Archaeologists documenting Isil’s destruction of the ruins of the Tomb of the Prophet Jonah say they have made an unexpected discovery which could help in our understanding of the world’s first empire.

The Nebi Yunus shrine - containing what Muslims and Christians believe to be the tomb of Jonah, as he was known in the Bible, or Yunus in the Koran - was blown up by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) militants soon after they seized huge swathes of northern Iraq in 2014.

The shrine is situated on top of a hill in eastern Mosul called Nebi Yunus - one of two mounds that form part of the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh.

The Iraqi army retook the area from Isil last month, revealing the extensive damage wrought by the jihadists.

But local archaeologists have told the Telegraph that Isil also dug tunnels deep under the demolished shrine and into a previously undiscovered and untouched 600BC palace.

Limited excavation was carried out by the Ottoman governor of Mosul in 1852, which was revisited by the Iraqi department of antiquities in the 1950s. But neither team reached as far as the palace.

It is the first evidence of Isil’s use of tunneling in ancient grounds in their hunt for artefacts to plunder.

Inside one of the tunnels, Iraqi archaeologist Layla Salih discovered a marble cuneiform inscription of King Esarhaddon thought to date back to the Assyrian empire in 672BC.

While the king’s name is not visible on the cuneiform slab, a historian who has seen photographs of it says phrases are legible which were used only to describe him, in particular his rebuilding of Babylon after his father Sennacherib had it destroyed.

The palace was built for Sennacherib, renovated and expanded by Esarhaddon (681-669 BC), and renovated again by Ashurbanipal (669-627). It was partly destroyed during the Sack of Nineveh in 612 BC.

There are only a handful of such cuneiforms recovered from the period, most of which from the second mound just north of Nebi Yunus in Kouyunjik.

In another part of the tunnel they discovered Assyrian stone sculptures of a demi-goddess, depicted sprinkling the “water of life” to protect humans in her care.

“I’ve never seen something like this in stone at this large size,” said Prof Eleanor Robson, chair of the British Institute for the Study of Iraq, suggesting they may have been used to decorate the women's quarter of the palace. “The objects don’t match descriptions of what we thought was down there, so Isil’s destruction has actually led us to a fantastic find.

“There’s a huge amount of history down there, not just ornamental stones. It is an opportunity to finally map the treasure-house of the world’s first great empire, from the period of its greatest success.”

Ms Salih, a former curator of the Mosul museum who is supervising a five-man team carrying out the emergency documentation, said she believes Isil looted hundreds of objects before Iraqi forces recaptured the eastern side of the city.

“I can only imagine how much Daesh discovered down there before we got here,” she told the Telegraph by phone from Mosul. “We believe they took many of the artefacts, such as pottery and smaller pieces, away to sell. But what they left will be studied and will add a lot to our knowledge of the period."

She warned that the tunnels were not professionally built, however, and are at risk of collapsing “within weeks” - burying and potentially destroying the new finds.

Experts from the British Institute for the Study of Iraq - alongside other international teams - are bidding to help local archaeologists secure and document the site. Unesco is due to hold a meeting in Paris later this month to decide who will be sent.

The terror group destroyed several other key landmarks in Mosul and elsewhere because they considered the worshipping of shrines not to be in keeping with their Islamic traditions. Isil militants believe giving special veneration to tombs and relics is against the teachings of Islam.

A report just released by the Iraqi Kurdistan regional government lists some 100 sacred buildings damaged or wiped off the map during Isil’s two-year reign.

They closed all of Mosul’s museums and cultural centres during their more than two-year reign over the city. Many of the city’s archaeologists and historians went into hiding.

“Many decided to stay in the city when Isil came, fearing what they might do to their families if they fled,” said Prof Robson. “They hid their books and lied about their expertise. Thankfully, most of them survived.”
 
A senior Hashd al-Shaabi (Iraqi volunteer forces) commander disclosed that the US troops have helped ISIL chief commander Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi escape the western part of the city of Mosul in Northern Iraq.

Iraqi Commander: ISIL Leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi Fled Mosul with US Assistance
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951220000599

"The US forces have paved the way for ISIL leader (Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi) to flee from Western Mosul to al-Qayravan region," the Arabic-language al-Sumeria TV quoted Javad al-Tayebavi as saying.

"Our intelligence unit has confirmed that al-Baghdadi is moving between al-Qayravan and al-Hazar region in Southern Mosul.

The report came as Reuters news agency reported that the US and Iraqi officials believe Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has left operational commanders behind with diehard followers to fight the battle of Mosul, and is now hiding out in the desert, focusing mainly on his own survival.

It is impossible to confirm the whereabouts of the ISIL "caliph", who declared himself the ruler of all Muslims from Mosul's Great Mosque after his forces swept through Northern Iraq in 2014, it said.


ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been seen near Nineveh’s borders with Syria, apparently in a poor health condition, sources told Alsumaria News.

ISIL Leader Baghdadi Allegedly Spotted Near Syrian Borders, in Poor Health
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951221000517

A local source in Nineveh told the network Saturday that Baghdadi, who the source said appeared near the borders with Syria’s Boukamal, looked skinny and unable to speak clearly due to past traumas. He was moving unguarded so as not to draw suspicions, Iraqi news reported.

Alsumaria News, quoting the source, said Baghdadi rallied a number of his tribal supporters and voiced criticism of Iraqi members of his group for failing to exhibit enough backing for Arab and foreign members who, he said, were leading the battle against security forces.

Since ISIL took over several areas of Iraq to proclaim an “Islamic Caliphate”, Baghdadi’s exact whereabouts have remained a mystery and subject to clashing speculations. The ambiguity increased as the Iraqi government launched an offensive in October 2016 to retake Mosul, Islamic State’s previously-proclaimed capital.



A warship of the Saudi-led forces was destroyed after hitting a sea mine laid by the Yemeni army and popular forces in the coastal waters of Ta'iz province.

Yemeni Forces Destroy Another Saudi Warship
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951221000358

"The Saudi-led warship was destroyed in the city of al-Mukha in Ta'iz province in Southwestern Yemen," a Yemeni military source said.

The source noted that all crew members of the warship were killed in the explosion.

This is the 13th time that a Saudi warship is sent deep into the waters of Bab al-Mandab Strait by the Yemeni forces.


The Yemeni army and popular forces continued their military operations against the Saudi-backed militants in Ta'iz province, killing 16 militias, including two field commanders and a senior intelligence officer.

3 Saudi-Backed Commanders, 13 Other Militias Killed in Yemeni Forces' Military Operation in Ta'iz Province
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951221001202

Saleh Salim Zaqleh nom du guerre Abu Hani, Saudi-backed militias' intelligence officer and two senior commanders named Mansar Hassan al-Radfani and Marvan Najib Fazl al-Sabihi as well as 13 other militants were killed in the Yemeni forces' operation in al-Mukha city in Ta'iz province.

The Yemeni forces also destroyed the military vehicles of the Saudi-backed militias in al-Ma'afer region of Ta'iz province.
 
The Daesh (outlawed in Russia) terrorist group has deployed poisonous gas while fighting Iraqi government forces in Mosul, local media said Monday.

Daesh Uses Poisonous Gas in Attack on Iraqi Forces in Mosul - Reports
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703141051546348-daesh-poisonous-gas-mosul/

Daesh militants fired mortar shells containing a blue-colored poisonous gas in Mosul's Bab al-Toob district, the Rudaw channel reported.

The shells landed close to Rudaw's camera crew, with footage showing soldiers and crew members suffocating a minute after the plume of smoke appeared.

On March 3, media reported that chemical weapons had been used during a fight between Daesh militants and Iraqi troops in eastern Mosul.

Following the reports, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) said 12 patients were referred to hospitals showing symptoms consistent with exposure to a toxic chemical agent. The number has since risen to 15.

Iraq’s Ambassador to the United Nations Ali Al Hakim told reporters on Friday that Iraq did not have any evidence that Daesh had used chemical weapons in the city of Mosul.

The operation to recapture Mosul, the key stronghold of Daesh in Iraq, began in October 2016 and resulted in the liberation of Mosul’s eastern part this January, but fighting continues in the city's western areas.


An Iraqi media outlet said a video footage recorded accidentally by one of the outlet's camera in the Iraqi of Mosul clearly shows that ISIL terrorist group has deployed poisonous gas while fighting Iraqi government forces in the flashpoint city.

Footage Shows ISIL Uses Poisonous Gas in Attack on Iraqi Forces in Mosul
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951224000676

ISIL militants fired mortar shells containing a blue-colored poisonous gas in Mosul's Bab al-Toob district, and one of the shells landed close to camera crew, with footage showing soldiers and crew members suffocating a minute after the plume of smoke appeared, Rudaw reported.

On March 3, several media outlets active in Mosul battlefields reported that chemical weapons had been used during a fight between ISIL militants and Iraqi troops in Eastern Mosul.


An Iraqi military operation has resulted in arrest of a so-called minister of industry for Daesh terror group and his associates, the Iraqi Defense Ministry announced on Tuesday.

Iraqi Military Arrests Daesh 'Minister of Industry'
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703141051566188-daesh-iraq-minister/

The news comes amid an operation to liberate Mosul from Daesh. "The Military Intelligence conducted a proactive operation, resulted to arrest the Minister of Industry for ISIS [Daesh] and his deputies," the ministry said in a Twitter message.


On Sunday, east of the city of Mosul in northern Iraq a new mass grave was found in which Daesh terrorists had buried the remains of more than 40 civilians and law enforcement officers, local activist Muhannad Mahmud told Sputnik Arabic.

Ghastly Finding: Mass Grave Containing Over 40 Bodies Unearthed Near Mosul
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703141051565312-mass-grave-found-mosul-iraq/

Currently, the identification of the remains is undergoing and according to the information that is available so far it has become known that one of the executed was a colonel.

On March 11, the People's Mobilization Forces of Iraq found a large common grave with the remains of about 500 civilians from the Badush prison. They were all executed by the militants.

It is reported that on charges of involvement in this massacre, 87 militants were arrested by the People's Mobilization Forces.

Terrorists seized the prison of Badush in June 2014 and shot 670 prisoners. After that the victims were burned.

Earlier in the month, Sputnik Arabic had obtained exclusive photos of a mass grave south of Mosul near the village of Rujuu.

The local activists found the remains of the local residents executed by Daesh in a naturally formed pit where the victims had been dumped after being killed.

Following the areas that have been liberated by the Iraqi security forces, local activists from another nearby village, al-Hud, were able to descend to the bottom of the pit using a rope tied to a car. Activists retrieved the remains of 15 people.

The gruesome Daesh legacy did not end there as the Iraqi security forces made a separate discovery at the Khasfa sinkhole outside western Mosul. The large natural depression is believed to be Iraq's largest mass grave, containing about 4,000 bodies of Iraqi security personnel, who were captured and killed by Daesh over the span of six months after the terrorist group captured the city in 2014.

As the Iraqi coalition continues to clear the suburbs of Mosul in an ongoing offensive, new evidence of gruesome crimes conducted by the terrorist group in the area have been discovered, including numerous mass graves containing hundreds of decapitated corpses, many of which presumably belong to former members of the local law enforcement.


Iraq’s Federal Police chief said Tuesday security forces had retaken 90 percent of Central Mosul’s Old City, a most-wanted target in operations against the ISIL terror group in Western Mosul.

Iraqi Police: 90% of Mosul’s Old City Liberated from ISIL
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951224001112

Lt. Gen. Shaker Jawdat said in a statement that his forces recaptured Bab al-Jadid and Bab al-Bid neighborhood, Iraqi News reported.

The troops recaptured Nineveh’s railway station and a nearby garage a few hours earlier.

“The Rapid Response forces recaptured 90 percent of the Old City and became 100 meters away from the Old Bridge,” Jawdat stated, referring to one of the five strategic bridges linking Western and Eastern Mosul above the Tigris River.

Iraqi generals view the Old City, with its narrow alleyways and dense population, as a major target whose recapture could be highly decisive for the outcome of operations in the Western region of Mosul.


The Iraqi army dismissed reports claiming that the US has sent 2,000 military forces to al-Anbar province.

Iraq Denies Deployment of 2,000 US Forces
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951223001514

Iraq's Joint Operation Command Center in a statement denied the report, saying that the news has been released to divert the public opinion from the Iraqi forces' great victories in the fight against terrorism.

Earlier reports said that the US has deployed 2,000 forces in al-Anbar province.

Media sources had also disclosed today that the US Army has deployed more forces and military equipment in the countryside of the town of Manbij in Northeastern Aleppo.

The Arabic desk of Sky News reported that Washington has deployed 200 fresh soldiers in al-Asaliyeh village North of Manbij town, adding that the total number of the US soldiers deployed in Manbij now stands at 700.

Other media activists reported that almost 40 military and armored vehicles of the US army have arrived near Manbij.


Iraqi officials are reporting that Daesh destroyed fake artifacts in Mosul in order to sell genuine relics abroad.

Did Daesh Destroy Fake Artifacts in Mosul and Sell the Original Pieces?
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703141051547487-daes-destroys-fake-mosul-artifacts/

According to CNN, experts examined the March 2015 videos purportedly showing the militants destroying artifacts, and ultimately concluded that some of the pieces and statues were replicas made of gypsum, and that the real artifacts were smuggled out of Iraq and sold.

One the ancient artifacts supposedly destroyed was a statue of Assyrian winged bull called Lamassu, which met it’s end with a sledgehammer in Nimrud. The figure was a prominent symbol of the Assyrian Empire dating back to the seventh century, B.C.E.

The fundamentalist militants considered the relics an affront to their version of Islam, and against the background of religious music one man is heard saying, "O Muslims, these statues behind me are idols of people from previous centuries who worshiped them instead of God almighty. If God has ordered their destruction, they become worthless to us, even if they are worth billions of dollars."

The CNN report also suggested that jihadists may have sold other pieces stored in the warehouses of Mosul’s antiquities museum. Another video released later showed a Nimrud archaeological site being demolished with explosives and bulldozers.

The videos were released a year after Daesh took control of Mosul, as part of a systematic effort to destroy important Iraqi cultural markers, including temples, churches, ancient palaces, and even mosques that the extremists claimed venerated saints, a practice considered heretical to their brand of monotheism.

Archaeologist and former Mosul museum curator Layla Salih noted, "These are the remains of a lamassu and the lions of Nimrud…"They were priceless," and "they were in perfect condition."

The second-largest antiquities facility in Iraq, Mosul’s museum was built in the 1970s and at one time housed not only Mesopotamian artifacts but also rare pre-Islamic and Islamic texts.

Mosul native and federal police Major Muhammad al-Jabouri lamented the destruction, saying "Mosul is the heart of Iraqi civilization…When I heard how Daesh destroyed this place," he said, with his eyes filled with tears. “Death would have been a greater mercy for me."


At least three American soldiers were wounded in an explosion in Eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, local media said.

3 US Soldiers Wounded in Explosion East of Afghanistan
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951224000929

The attack took place after a US mine-resistant vehicle struck an IED near Jalalabad, while medical sources said 3 US soldiers in the vehicle were injured and receieved medical treatment, Khaama Press reported.

The NATO-led Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan also confirmed the attack.

Militant groups in Afghanistan frequently use Improvised Explosive Device (IED) as the weapon of their choice to target the Afghan and foreign forces based in Afghanistan.

However, the Afghan officials are saying in majority of such incidents the ordinary civilians are targeted.

In the meantime, the latest attack on US forces in Nangarahr comes as counter-terrorism operations are underway in this province which are jointly being conducted by the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDS) and the air support of the US forces.

The US forces in Afghanistan resumed their counter-terrorism operations mainly involving airstrikes last year under a broader role granted by the Obama administration earlier last year.

The current counter-terrorism operations being conducted under the name of Shaheen-25 to eliminate the militants affiliated with the ISIL terrorist group.


A sum of 71 Saudi forces have been killed by the army and the Yemeni popular committees in the past two months, media outlets in Yemen reported.

71 Saudi Forces Killed by Yemeni Army, Popular Committees in 2 Months
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951224000758

According to the Arabic-language al-Ahd news website, intensified operations by the Yemeni army and popular committees in the past two months have made the Saudi regime admit the death of 34 of its forces but the Yemeni media released the name of 71 Saudi military forces killed in Yemen, reporting that a monitoring of the Saudi social media in the past 60 days would also verify their claim.

In a latest development on Monday, the Yemeni army and popular forces inflicted heavy losses in attacks on the Saudi-backed militants by firing four Grad missiles on militias' positions in Ma'rib province.

"The Wadi Namleh and Jabal Salab military bases in the Northeastern part of Harib al-Qaramish in Ma'rib province came under attack by four Grad missiles on Monday," the Arabic-language Saba news agency quoted a Yemeni military source as saying. The Saudi-backed militias sustained heavy losses in the Yemeni attacks.


Russia warned against an imminent military attack by Saudi Arabia against the Yemeni port city of Hodeida, emphasizing that the offensive would exacerbate the humanitarian situation in Yemen.

Russia Warns against Planned Saudi Attack in Yemen
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951224000871

The “plans to storm Yemen’s biggest port of Hodeida give rise to serious concerns,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement published on the ministry’s official website, Russophile reported.

She added that battles in the area “would not only inevitably lead to a mass exodus of the local population but would also de facto cut the Yemeni capital of Sana’a from… food and humanitarian aid supplies.”

Zakharova described the humanitarian situation in Yemen as “catastrophic.” She also condemned a March 10 Saudi-led airstrike on a marketplace in the al-Khawkhah district of Hudaydah.

Twenty six people, including 20 civilians and six Ansarullah fighters, were killed in the raid, according to AFP.

Meanwhile, nearly a dozen civilians sustained injuries when Saudi fighter jets carried out an aerial attack against a residential area in northern Yemen using internationally-banned cluster bombs.

Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said ten people were injured when Saudi military aircraft struck the Northwestern city of Sa’ada, located 240 kilometers north of the capital Sana’a, on Monday evening, Arabic-language al-Masirah television network reported.
 
Along with 2 Blasts in the Syrian Capital of Damascus with several deaths and wounded reported .......

A powerful blast hit Baghdad Wednesday, leaving at least 18 people dead, 22 injured, sources in the local law enforcement authorities told Sputnik Arabic.

Powerful Blast Leaves Dozens Dead in Iraqi Capital
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703151051614850-baghdad-blast-dozens-dead-injured/

According to the source, a car rigged with explosives exploded in the Northern part of Baghdad.

DETAILS TO FOLLOW

And:

An explosive device has been found in a suspicious package found in the German Finance Ministry earlier in the day, Focus reported.

Explosive Device Found in Suspicious Package Brought to German Finance Ministry
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201703151051614501-germany-explosive-justice-ministry/

Earlier in the day, German police arrived in the ministry as a suspicious package had been found. Employees of the post office department found a package about 10 a.m. local time.

After examining the package, police did not rule out that it could be dangerous.

According to Bild newspaper, the package contained an explosive.

The package was scanned using X-ray equipment.

Due to the fact that it was impossible to fully examine the package at the site, it was transported for further inspection to a special training ground in Grunewald.

DETAILS TO FOLLOW
 
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi said that Donald Trump and his top officials have agreed to speed up US support for the Iraqi government in its ongoing battle against Daesh.

Trump Pledged to Speed Up Support for Iraqi Government Against Daesh
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703211051790397-trump-support-iraqi-government/

President Donald Trump and his top officials have agreed to speed up US support for the Iraqi government in its ongoing battle against the Islamic State (Daesh) terror group, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi said.

"We have been given assurances the support will not only continue but will accelerate," Abadi said after meeting with Trump at the White House on Monday. "We are happy with the meeting… Working together I think we can be successful."

Abadi said Trump and other senior officials had expressed clear support for the Iraqi government and its policies.


A car bomb attack in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad killed at least 23 and injured dozens, Sky News Arabia reported.

Car Bomb Attack in Iraqi Capital Kills at Least 23, Injures Dozens
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703201051784230-baghdad-car-bomb/

The explosion occurred on a commercial street in the Amil neighbourhood in Baghdad's south, the media outlet reported citing its sources in the police.

According to Reuters news agency, the district is mostly populated by Shiites. The news agency said that 45 were wounded in the explosion.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, however, previously Daesh was behind most of the attacks in Iraq. Last Thursday, dozens of civilians were killed in a blast in Baghdad.

The news comes amid the Iraqi offensive in Mosul backed by the US-led coalition.


Three US Army soldiers were shot and wounded by an Afghan soldier on Sunday, March 19, in an apparent "insider attack" in southern Afghanistan's troubled Helmand Province.

'Insider Attack' or 'Mistake'? Three US Army Soldiers Shot in Afghanistan
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703201051772082-afghanistan-us-army-attack/

During an assault, the offending soldier was shot and killed by coalition security forces, according to US military spokesman Capt. William Salvin.

"The US soldiers are receiving medical treatment at this time and we will release more information when available," he said.

The severity of the wounds inflicted on the three men has yet to be disclosed by officials.

The apparent "insider attack" happened around 1:30 pm local time at Camp Antonik in the Washer District in Helmand, during a military training exercise, Afghanistan's TOLO news had reported.

The news outlet also said that the attacker deliberately fired on US forces which contradicts Afghan army spokesman Col. Mohammad Rasoul Zazai's claim that the soldier made a "mistake" and had not fired deliberately.

US officials have yet to disclose if the shooting involved a Taliban sympathizer, a personal dispute or a cultural misunderstanding.

Although a large number of allied troops were withdrawn from the volatile nation in 2014, the Pentagon still has 8,400 troops deployed in Afghanistan to train and advise Afghan forces.

Insider attacks, sometimes referred to as "green on blue" shootings, on US military personnel were more frequent in the early years of the Afghan War.

However, last October Sgt. Douglas Riney and military contractor Michael Sauro were killed by a man wearing an Afghan army uniform, NATO officials said.

In total, there have been 94 insider attacks in in Afghanistan, with at least 150 foreign soldiers killed and 187 wounded since 2008, according to the Long War Journal blog.

The latest shootings come as the US confirmed it will be sending a few thousand extra troops to the country to help combat Taliban insurgents who claimed responsibility for an attack that killed around 16 civilians in the capital Kabul earlier in March.

Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr., the top US military commander in Afghanistan told the Senate Armed Services Committee in February that "we have a shortfall of a few thousand" who will be sent to support Afghan military.

Kabul's US-backed government is struggling to retain control of the country from Taliban rebels. About 57% of districts nationwide are under government control, down 15% from November 2015.

Also on Sunday, March 19, around 13 Taliban militants were killed and a dozen others were wounded during counter operations in the southern Zabul province, the governor's spokesperson, Gul Islam Siyal, told Pajhwok Afghan News.


Afghan Soldier Opens Fire, Wounds Three US Military in Southern Afghanistan
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201703191051748748-afghanistan-mission-us-military/

An Afghan serviceman opened fire at a base in the country's southern Helmand province, wounding three US soldiers, the NATO Resolute Support Mission said Sunday.

"Three US soldiers wounded when shot by Afghan soldier on a base in Helmand Province. US soldiers receiving medical care," the mission said on its official Twitter.

According to media reports, the Afghan soldier was killed.

The Resolute Support mission, focused on training, advising and assisting the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces, was launched on January 1, 2015.
 
The US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee supports the decision of the Iraqi government not to allow Shiite paramilitary forces enter the city of Mosul, committee chairman Ed Royce said in a press release on Tuesday.

US Praises Iraq for Not Allowing Shiite Militia Groups in Mosul
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703211051818734-us-iraq-shiites-mosul/

Royce emphasized that Shiite militants have been accused of abuses and should not be associated with in a democratic Iraq.

"I am encouraged that Shia paramilitary units — many of them funded, armed and even directed by Iran — have stayed out of the fight for Mosul," Royce stated following a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Royce and al-Ababi also discussed progress in combating Daesh and reaffirmed the US-Iraq partnership.

On October 17, Abadi launched the operation to retake the city of Mosul from Daesh with 4,000 Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and 30,000 Iraqi soldiers backed by the US-led global coalition against the terror group.


The Iraqi Interior Ministry on Tuesday denied information about the nine officers who had reportedly been taken hostage by militants of the Daesh terror group (outlawed in many countries) in Mosul.

Iraqi Interior Ministry Denies Nine Officers Taken Hostage by Daesh in Mosul
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703211051817596-iraq-daesh-hostage/

On Monday, media reported that nine Iraqi officers, including a police colonel, were taken hostage by militants in Mosul. The report cited an unnamed Iraqi Interior Ministry official.

The Ministry of Interior denies the widespread information about the capture of several police officers during the ongoing clashes in Mosul. This is not true," Saad Maan, the ministry’s spokesman, said, as quoted by Alsumaria news channel.


Around 15,000 Iraqis have arrived in Syrian Kurdish territories after escaping the Mosul offensive, an official of the Federation of Northern Syria, a de facto Kurdish autonomy, told Sputnik.

Thousands of Iraqis Seek Shelter in Syrian Kurdish Camp After Fleeing Mosul
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703211051797483-kurds-camp-iraqis-mosul/

The Kurdish autonomy is hosting roughly 500,000 displaced Syrians and Iraqi refugees, he said. They urgently need food, clothes and medicine.

"Some 15,000 refugees have come to us. A new camp has been built for them in the town of al-Hawl on the Syrian border with Iraq," Rodi Osman, the federation’s representative to Russia, said.

Troops loyal to the Iraqi government launched an offensive last October to retake the key stronghold from Islamists. They captured the eastern part of Mosul this January and are pushing into more populated western districts.

The UN estimates 180,000 civilians have escaped western Mosul since mid-February, with up to 320,000 more expected to flee in coming weeks, as government forces advance into the Old City.

According to the International Organization for Migration, fierce fighting has pushed a total of 300,000 people out of Mosul since the operation began.
 
Iraqi Army Brig. Gen. Thaer Mosawi stated that field hospitals have received over 22,000 wounded Mosul residents since the campaign to liberate Mosul from the Daesh terror group started in October.

Almost 4,000 Civilians Killed in Western Mosul Since Mid-February
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703251051950391-mosul-civilians-death-toll/

A total of 3,864 civilians have been killed in the western part of the Iraqi city of Mosul since mid-February, media reported citing Army Brig. Gen. Thaer Mosawi.

“Those who have fled the combat areas are reporting high civilian casualties,” Mosawi told Anadolu news agency.

He added that field hospitals have received over 22,000 wounded Mosul residents since the campaign to liberate the city from the Daesh terror group (banned in Russia) started in October.

Mosawi noted that the army has probably liberated as much as slightly more than a half of the western part of the city.

On Thursday, media reported that at least 200 people, many of whom were civilians, were killed in an airstrike in Mosul.

The Iraqi operation to recapture Mosul, the key stronghold of the Daesh in Iraq, began in October 2016 and resulted in the liberation of Mosul’s eastern part this January. Fighting continues in the city's west.


BAGHDAD — An airstrike targeting Islamic State militants in the Iraqi city of Mosul that witnesses say killed at least 100 people was in fact launched by the U.S. military, American officials said Saturday.

US acknowledges its forces were behind airstrike on Mosul
http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/us-acknowledges-its-forces-were-behind-airstrike-on-mosul-1.460653#.WNbe__51odU

U.S. officials did not confirm the reports of civilian casualties but opened an investigation. In the days following the March 17 airstrike, U.S. officials had said they were unsure whether American forces were behind the attack.

The statement issued by the U.S.-led coalition said the airstrike had been requested by Iraqi security forces to target IS fighters and equipment "at the location corresponding to allegations of civilian casualties." U.S.-backed government troops were fighting IS forces in that area of western Mosul, the statement said.

The coalition said it takes all allegations of civilian casualties seriously and a formal Civilian Casualty Credibility Assessment had been opened to determine the facts surrounding this strike and the validity of the allegation of civilian casualties.

"Our goal has always been for zero civilian casualties, but the coalition will not abandon our commitment to our Iraqi partners because of ISIS's inhuman tactics terrorizing civilians, using human shields, and fighting from protected sites such as schools, hospitals, religious sites and civilian neighborhoods," the coalition said.

Altaf Musani, representative of the World Health Organization in Iraq, told The Associated Press in the Jordanian capital of Amman that the organization's priority was quick treatment for those wounded.

"It is our understanding that there was an incident and we have worked with the local health actors and they have confirmed more than 100 are dead," Musani said.

Musani said that since the operations in Mosul began in October, there have been at least 5,300 people referred to hospitals in and around the city. He added that since the attack on western Mosul began last month, "we have managed to capture more than 1,300" cases.

"When you take a better look at what those numbers mean, what is worrying for the WHO and aid actors is that roughly 30 percent of the total numbers are women," he said. "Roughly 30 percent of that large number are children under 15, and that is deeply concerning because of the capacities needed to treat those wounded coming out of the front lines."

President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to dramatically ramp up the assault on Islamic State militants and has vowed to eradicate it.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis met in recent days with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Ababi and foreign ministers from the coalition partners at the State Department to explore new ideas to expand the fight against IS in Mosul.

Earlier Saturday, senior Sunni Muslim politicians expressed concern over reports of airstrikes that allegedly killed the civilians. Residents reported two airstrikes hitting a residential area on March 13 and 17. The Iraqi Defense Ministry has provided no immediate comment.

In tweets published on his official account, parliament speaker Salim al-Jabouri said "we realize the huge responsibility the liberating forces shoulder" and call on them to "spare no effort to save the civilians."

In a statement issued on his website, Vice President Osama al-Nujaifi, himself from Mosul, described the incident as a "humanitarian catastrophe," blaming the U.S.-led coalition airstrikes and excessive use of force by militarized Federal Police forces. Al-Nujaifi put the number of civilians killed at "hundreds." He called for an emergency parliament session and an immediate investigation into the incident.

Residents of the neighborhood known as Mosul Jidideh told the AP on Friday that scores of residents were believed to have been killed by two airstrikes that hit a cluster of homes in the area. Resident Ahmed Ahmed said there were over a hundred people within the cluster taking refuge from the missiles.

AP reporters saw at least 50 bodies being recovered from the wreckage of the buildings.

Faced with their toughest fight yet against IS, Iraqi and coalition forces have increasingly turned to airstrikes and artillery to clear and hold territory in Mosul's densely populated western neighborhoods. Humanitarian and monitoring officials warned of increased civilian casualties in western Mosul due to the increased reliance on airstrikes and artillery.

Backed by U.S.-led international coalition, Iraqi forces launched an operation in February to drive IS from the western half of Iraq's second-largest city, after declaring eastern Mosul "fully liberated" the previous month. The city is divided by the Tigris River .


An officer in Iraqi Joint Operations Command said that the ISIL terror group executed a number of youths and women, for trying to flee the group-held areas to the liberated areas, West of Mosul.

20 Civilians Arbitrarily Executed by ISIL Terrorists West of Mosul
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960105000592

Colonel Khodier Saleh said in a press statement that the ISIL terrorist group arrested 20 civilians, including 9 women, while they were trying to flee from al-Yarmouk area toward the recently liberated Mosul al-Jadida, Iraqi News reported.

The terror group then executed the arrested civilians by firing squad in al-Yarmouk area, Saleh further added.

Earlier today, the ISIL group also shelled the neighborhoods of al-Mushahda, Nabi Sheth and Bab Laksh using mortar missiles, leaving 18 casualties.


Australian firms signed military contracts to provide weapons to Saudi Arabia, despite the regime’s ongoing war in Yemen that has killed over 12,000 people since March 2015.

Australia Selling Arms to Saudis amid War Crimes in Yemen
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960105000488

The Australian Department of Defense secured four contracts to export weapons to Riyadh in the past year and Canberra has led the push for more arms sales, Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Australian Defense Industry Minister Christopher Pyne visited Riyadh in December to promote military equipment to Saudi officials.

"The minister received a very positive reception, as did the business representatives who visited," a spokeswoman for Pyne said.

Pyne, who reports to the Minister for Defense, is refusing to release details of the approved military sales, citing commercial-in-confidence rules.

Sarah Phillips, a University of Sydney researcher told the Sydney Morning Herald that Saudi Arabia has used brutal tactics in Yemen and its airstrikes have been "reckless," hitting funerals and hospitals at times.

Asked about Australian military exports to Saudi Arabia, Phillips said: "I would find that deeply concerning, with the ways in which previous assistance from other Western nations has been used upon the civilian population."


A deadly plot by the anti-government armed militants to detonate explosives inside a mosque in Northern Sar-e-Pul province has been foiled by the Afghan security forces.

Deadly Mosque Bombing Foiled in North of Afghanistan
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960105000470

According to the local government officials, the militants were looking to target the prayers in Guzar Shahan mosque, Khaama Press reported.

Provincial governor Mohammad Mohammad Zahir Wahdat said a suspect has been arrested in connection to the planting of an Improvised Explosive Device inside the mosque.

He said the suspect has been identified as Basir and was arrested by the security forces after he planted the IED in the mosque.

Wahdat further added that the Afghan security forces managed to detect and defuse the IED before the militants manage to detonate and a deadly terrorist attack plot was foiled.


A special investigation into how more than $115 billion in funding from the US was allocated in Afghanistan found that at least $1 billion was spent “questionably.” Prosecutors have recovered $27.7 million just from their investigations into troops stationed in North Carolina.

Busted! North Carolina Troops Scammed $27M From Afghanistan Aid
https://sputniknews.com/us/201703251051946620-busted-nc-troops-scammed-millions/

John Sopko, special investigator general for afghanistan reconstruction (SIGAR) berated military use of funds in 2014 when he famously declared that the US had dumped more money into Afghanistan in 11 years than it spent on 16 countries after World War II as part of the Marshall Plan.

Speaking at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, on March 23, Sopko said US troops designed and executed sophisticated schemes to steal money intended to rebuild Afghanistan.

In one case, four military members made 114 requests for fuel as part of mission requirements. The fuel needs turned out to be entirely fabricated: upon receipt of the fuel, the troops sold the oil on the black market. The individuals piled up more than $10 million for their efforts before they were caught, military newspaper Stars and Stripes reports.

On another occasion, two secretive special forces operators artificially made excessive bids on construction projects to the tune of $215,000, which the pair then sent back to their spouses in the US stuffed in envelopes.

The US Attorney General’s office in Raleigh, North Carolina, has convicted 12 ex-soldiers for bribery, cash smuggling and other offences and has laid down sentences ranging from 10 months to 15 years, Military.com reported.

The $117 billion earmarked for building a prosperous Afghanistan has been swallowed into a sinkhole. “While we know we built a lot of schools and hospitals, it’s less clear whether and how they’re currently being used,” Sopko noted.

According to Sopko, entrenched corruption and “too little oversight,” as US aid workers, contractors and armed personnel flooded the country contributed to the issue.

Other uses of the money were just plain ineffective, naive, or both: 15 years after the US threw 8.5 billion at illicit opium production, output of the drug has reached new record highs, The News & Observer notes.


When the U.S. government spends $117 billion to rebuild a war-torn country, some of it is bound to get stolen or misspent. And that’s what happened in Afghanistan, according to the man responsible for helping find the waste, fraud and abuse.

Investigator: Military members stole $27.7 million in Afghan rebuilding effort
http://www.stripes.com/news/us/investigator-military-members-stole-27-7-million-in-afghan-rebuilding-effort-1.460346#.WNbhDP51odV

John Sopko, head of the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), said Thursday evening in a speech at Duke University that his team identified nearly $1 billion in questionable costs and funds that could be put to better use. An additional $1 billion has been recovered for U.S. taxpayers in fines, restitution, recoveries and cost savings.

The money was recovered through 105 SIGAR arrests that led to 144 criminal indictments and charges and 109 convictions and guilty pleas. Of that $1 billion, $27.7 million has been recovered through investigations in North Carolina, Sopko said.

To date, the U.S. has spent more than $117 billion for the Afghanistan reconstruction effort and has promised another $5 billion to $6 billion per year through 2020. That figure, more than the U.S. spent on the entire Marshall Plan after World War II, doesn’t include any cost of fighting the war, Sopko said.

One of Sopko’s agents is stationed at Fort Bragg and works with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Raleigh. That partnership has resulted in the convictions of 12 military members based in North Carolina on charges including bribery, conspiracy, theft and bulk cash smuggling. Sentences for those convicted have ranged from 10 months to 15 years in prison.

Expensive schemes - The arrests include the discovery of four military members responsible for creating 114 false requests for fuel supply missions and selling the gas on the black market, racking up about $10 million in losses, according to documents provided by SIGAR spokeswoman Jennifer George-Nichol.

SIGAR investigators also revealed two Special Forces members skimmed nearly $215,000 by inflating construction bids and altering receipts between November 2009 and December 2010. The men would take the extra money and send it in postal money orders to their spouses in the U.S., documents show.

With all of the U.S. spending, its efficacy in Afghanistan remains unclear, Sopko said in his prepared remarks.

While we know we built a lot of schools and hospitals, it’s less clear whether and how they’re currently being used,” he said.

Natural gas and goats - Sopko took over the job in 2012. He’s a former state and federal prosecutor and congressional investigator.

Sopko asked top officials to report their 10 most successful projects in Afghanistan. But none of them chose to do so, saying they “couldn’t really measure success between their various programs and projects.” “That should tell you a lot about how government works,” he said.

Sopko thinks that the massive influx of U.S. aid, contractors and military funding with “too little oversight” significantly compounded already severe corruption in Afghanistan.

The U.S. already has provided more than $70 billion to build up security forces in Afghanistan, including billions to train, advise and assist the Afghan National Army, police and air force. U.S. taxpayers not only fund the salaries of Afghan security forces, but also pay for their equipment, training, food, fuel, weapons and base infrastructure.
 
Yemeni ambassador to the United States Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak said that a court in Yemeni capital city of Sanaa, controlled by the Houthi movement, sentenced the country’s President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and six other top government’s officials to death.

Yemeni Pro-Houthi Court Sentences Country’s President to Death
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703261051969048-yemen-houthi-president-death-sentence/

A court in Yemeni capital city of Sanaa, controlled by the Houthi movement, sentenced the country’s President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and six other top government’s officials to death, Yemeni ambassador to the United States Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak said.

Houthi court in Sanaa has sentenced President Hadi and 6 of his senior assistants to death, proudly I am one of them," Mubarak wrote on Twitter late on Saturday.

According to media reports, the president and his officials were sentenced for high treason.

Yemen's civil war between the internationally recognized Aden-based government of President Hadi and the Houthi movement backed by army units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh erupted in March 2015. Shortly after the start of the conflict, the Saudi-led coalition of Arab countries launched Operation Decisive Storm, which has since been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request.


The operation of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen has created $400 million worth in damages and left dozens of teachers and pupils dead in the wake of the ongoing hostilities, according to Ismail Zaidan, the information officer at the Ministry of Education of Yemen.

Saudi-Led Coalition Destroys Over 2,300 Schools in Yemen Over Two Years
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703241051929498-yemen-coalition-schools-saudi-arabia/

The Saudi-led coalition of Arab states has destroyed over 2,300 schools in Yemen since its military campaign against the opposition Houthi movement began two years ago, Ismail Zaidan, the information officer at the Ministry of Education of Yemen, told Sputnik.

The damage suffered by the education process as a result of the aggression against education institutions has reached 2,306 schools and other institutions, which were fully or partially destroyed," Zaidan said.

According to Zaidan, the operation has created $400 million worth in damages and left dozens of teachers and pupils dead in the wake of the ongoing hostilities.


Two years ago Riyadh-led coalition started carrying out airstrikes in Yemen against the rebels from Houthi movement, known as Ansar Allah (Supporters of God) at the request of Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi as part of its Operation Decisive Storm.

Saudi-Led International Coalition's Military Operation in Yemen
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703261051970914-saudi-led-international-coalition/

The Houthi movement, operating in Yemen since 1994, is an armed Shiite organization that had initially controlled a small area in northern Yemen. The movement's leader, Abdul-Malik Houthi, staged an anti-government rebellion in Yemen in 2004.

Supporters of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh who stepped down in 2011 at the height of the Arab Spring in exchange for immunity from political harassment and legal prosecution have sided with Houthi rebels, while army units, loyal to Hadi, and Sunni volunteers from local tribes opposed the rebels.

In February 2010, the Yemeni government and Shiite rebels signed a ceasefire agreement.

In mid-August 2014, Houthi-organized protests flared up in Yemen, and they escalated into clashes with security forces one month later.

After several unsuccessful attempts to launch dialogue with Hadi’s regime, in early 2015 the Houthis launched an all-out attack on major Yemeni cities, including the country’s capital of Sanaa and seized most of the country. Hadi was virtually ousted from power and fled from Sanaa to Aden where he set up his temporary residence. Later he was forced out of the country.

On March 22, 2015, the UN Security Council confirmed the legitimacy of Hadi's presidency and condemned the Houthis' actions. Later in the day, the Houthis established control over Yemen’s third largest city of Taiz and in early April, they entered Aden.

Saudi Arabia announced on March 23, 2015, that Persian Gulf states would act to defend the region from Houthi aggression. The initiative was supported by the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Morocco, Egypt, Sudan and Pakistan.

On March 26, 2015, the international coalition launched the Operation Decisive Storm in Yemen, carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request. The coalition’s air force started bombing Sanaa, targeting Houthi-controlled air force, air defense installations, the international airport and residential areas. Coalition forces also attacked Houthi units, their camps, military equipment and the infrastructure in Yemen.

On April 21, 2015, the coalition sources announced the successful completion of the Operation Decisive Storm and the shift to the political-military Operation Renewal of Hope. It was announced that the Houthi threat to Saudi Arabia and its neighbors had been eliminated, that ballistic missiles seized by the rebels had been destroyed, and that the new campaign would aim to resume the political process, combat terrorism and counter Houthi military activity.

A fragile truce ended in mid-May, 2015, and the coalition launched new air strikes against Houthi positions.

In June, an attempt to launch indirect UN-mediated intra-Yemeni talks failed in Geneva.

By mid-July, forces, loyal to the legitimate authorities and supported by coalition land units, had retaken Aden and several strategically important southern areas. Hadi returned to Yemen and proclaimed Aden the country’s "temporary capital."

Apart from Saudi Arabia that leads the ten-country coalition, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) contributed 1,000 soldiers each and Bahrain sent about 500 servicemen to ground operations.

In September 2015, media reported the deployment of 800 soldiers from Egypt. However, Cairo denied these claims. Nevertheless, Egypt was indeed involved in a naval blockade of Yemen. Other countries confined themselves to airstrikes and logistics support.

Faced with the coalition’s onslaught and losing the southern sector of the capital, the Houthis and Saleh agreed to begin talks under a plan approved by the United Nations calling for a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of the rebel units from cities and the establishment of a national-unity government. Yemeni authorities refused to negotiate.

In late September, 2015, the Houthis carried out an successful attack in south of Sanaa and also attacked Saudi forces on the border with Saudi Arabia. In November, 400 Sudanese soldiers reinforced coalition forces operating in the Taiz province. According to some estimates, 10,000 service personnel were deployed on the ground.

On December 15, 2015, direct UN-mediated intra-Yemeni talks began in Geneva. At the same time, a seven-day truce was declared in Yemen, although fighting continued in the Al Jawf, Hajjah and Taiz governorates. The coalition advanced on Sanaa once again, with the Houthis retaliating by firing ballistic missiles against Saudi Arabia.

On December 20, 2015, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed announced an end to the talks. Participants had only been able to coordinate prisoner exchanges and the delivery of humanitarian relief aid.

In late December, the intra-Yemeni dialogue had virtually failed, with UN representatives noting that the coalition strikes against residential areas in Yemen violated international humanitarian law. The disastrous health situation deteriorated even more after the coalition air force destroyed two hospitals belonging to the Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) humanitarian medical organization.

According to UN sources, almost 9,000 people were killed in Yemen over a period of one year, including over 3,000 civilians. Coalition forces were responsible for 50 percent of the fatalities.

Civilians make up to 95 percent of fatalities during attacks on densely populated areas.
Almost 2.5 million Yemenis fled their homes due to hostilities.

Contrary to a decision to continue the intra-Yemeni talks in mid-January 2016, the UN special envoy was only able to resume preliminary consultations in February, noting several days later that the parties were unable to come to an agreement on the terms of the dialogue’s new round.

In mid-March, 2016 it was suggested that the talks take place in Kuwait or Jordan, but no date was fixed.

In this context, forces, loyal to Hadi, retook Taiz. The head of state announced that the army still had to liberate 15 percent of the country’s territory and the coalition air force continued to attack rebel-held areas.

On March 17, a Saudi Arabian spokesperson announced a gradual drawdown of the coalition’s military operations in Yemen, noting that the coalition would continue to provide air support to Yemeni forces.

This statement came after coalition warplanes hit a marketplace three times in Mustaba District of Yemen’s Hajjah province. The air strikes killed 119 people and wounded 47 more, said a spokesperson for the healthcare directorate.

On March 21, 2016,Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that the parties to the Yemeni conflict had agreed to hold a new round of talks in Kuwait and had confirmed their readiness to set up a national unity government.

The media announced March 28 that the Houthis and Saudi Arabia had exchanged prisoners. A total of 100 Houthi rebels were swapped for nine Saudi Arabian prisoners.

A ceasefire agreement entered into force at midnight April 10, 2016. However, fighting continued in some parts of the country.

The United Nations brokered another round of peace talks in Kuwait that started on April 21. The talks almost failed several times because their participants accused each other of violating the ceasefire agreement.

During the talks, the government of Yemen and its Houthi opponents agreed to exchange prisoners in the run-up to the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

On June 1, the media reported that Houthi rebels released 16 prisoners from the Abu Al-Abbas people’s militia unit seized in the Taiz province in central Yemen, in exchange for 19 of their supporters.

The parties to the Yemeni conflict also agreed to release all children who had been imprisoned.

On June 7, the media reported that the Saudi Arabian-led coalition had transferred 52 teenagers who had sided with Houthi rebels fighting government forces to the Government of Yemen.

On June 15, 2016, the UAE announced the withdrawal of the country’s servicemen from the Saudi Arabian-led Arab coalition’s operation against the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

On June 18, the parties to the Yemeni conflict exchanged prisoners near the city of Taiz in southwestern Yemen, under the mediation of local tribes. The parties exchanged about 200 people, namely, the Arab coalition released 118 people, while Houthi rebels freed another 76. According to the UAE media, this deal had nothing to do with the result of the intra-Yemeni peace talks in Kuwait.

Although intra-Yemeni talks continued for 70 days, the parties failed to reach any specific agreement, despite the UN special envoy’s attempts to persuade them to approve a road map stipulating the abolition of previously adopted decisions on running the country by Houthi rebels who had seized power. On June 29, 2016, Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that the intra-Yemeni talks had been put off until the end of the celebrations marking the end of Ramadan.

Talks between the Yemeni government delegation and that of the Houthi movement opposing it resumed in Kuwait July 16, 2016.

On July 31, 2016, Hadi approved the UN-backed draft agreement on resolving the Yemeni crisis. The agreement, proposed by Ould Cheikh Ahmed, urges Houthi rebels and forces, loyal to Saleh, to lay down their weapons. The document also calls for withdrawing rebel units from Sanaa and the cities of Taiz and Al Hudaydah and establishing a military committee responsible for surrendering weapons and withdrawing insurgents from the cities. A political dialogue was set to resume 45 days after signing the draft agreement by the parties.

Hadi instructed the government delegation at the talks in Kuwait to sign the draft agreement. In turn, the government delegation officially notified the UN special envoy that it would approve the document, provided that the rebels signed it by August 7.

This round of peace talks ended August 6, with the parties failing to reach any agreement and fighting involving the Saudi Arabian-led coalition soon resumed in the country.

On October 24, 2016, the media reported that Ould Cheikh Ahmed had officially submitted a plan backed by the United Nations for comprehensively resolving the national crisis to the Yemeni government delegation and that of the Houthi rebels.

The new UN plan stipulated a number of mutual concessions. The Houthis were expected to withdraw from the capital. In response, Vice President Ali Mohsen Ahmar was supposed to resign, and Hadi’s powers were to have been seriously curtailed.

The parties to the Yemeni conflict rejected this plan.

Despite his numerous efforts, Ould Cheikh Ahmed has so far failed to persuade the warring parties to sit down at the negotiating table after three abortive rounds of talks have not helped resolve the Yemeni armed conflict sputtering on for almost two years.

As of October 2016, almost 10,000 people had been killed in Yemen, according to UN estimates. The total of 21.2 million Yemeni citizens, which is 80 percent of the country’s population, are in need of urgent assistance, while another 14 million are malnourished, and seven million are on the verge of dying from starvation. There are over three million internally displaced people, as well as over 300,000 refugees.

Most Yemenis are unable to drink clean water and use the sanitary infrastructure. The national healthcare system has been virtually paralyzed due to the destruction of the appropriate infrastructure by air strikes and a shortage of medication and other preparations. Since 2015, 10,000 children have died due to a shortage of medical services. More and more Yemenis are affected by grave diseases such as cholera, acute forms of pneumonia and measles.


It appears that the United States is doing its best to shift the blame concerning deadly Mosul airstrikes to another side, retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski told Sputnik.

Mosul Airstrikes: US Seeks to 'Shift Blame' for Civilian Casualties
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703261051979557-mosul-airstrikes-us-civilian-casualties/

In an interview with Sputnik, retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski specifically drew attention to Washington's efforts to shift blame pertaining to deadly Mosul airstrikes to another side.

The interview came after the UN said that it is profoundly concerned by reports about hundreds of casualties in alleged coalition airstrikes against the Daesh terrorist group in the Iraqi city of Mosul.

Earlier this week, media reported that around 200 civilians died in the raid in the embattled western part of the city.

Meanwhile, the US military is investigating whether it was responsible for the suspected casualties.

Officials told CNN that the Central Command is looking seriously into the matter, but does not contemplate a pause in regional military operations.

"It's undeniable that there were civilian casualties in the Mosul airstrikes and now they have to deal with it," Kwiatkowski said referring to media and social media reports confirming the civilian death toll.

According to her, the goal of the US Central Command's current probe into the Mosul strikes is to try and shift the blame.

"Again, you have to think about motivation. What motivated them to launch an investigation is certainly to shift the blame from the US. Casualties produce negative publicity and the real purpose of the military public affairs is to reduce this publicity," Kwiatkowski said.

Asked about if there will be an international independent inquiry into the western Mosul airstrikes and similar incidents, Kwiatkowski said that "it seems like that it should be and it seems that it would be the UN's and NATO's attention" on the matter.

Meanwhile, the US-led coalition has claimed that its airstrike in western Mosul was allegedly carried out against Daesh militants at the request of Iraq.

"An initial review of strike data from March 16-23 indicates that, at the request of the Iraqi Security Forces, the Coalition struck ISIS fighters and equipment, March 17, in West Mosul at the location corresponding to allegations of civilian casualties," the statement released on Saturday said.


Iraqi airstrikes have killed six senior Daesh figures in Mosul, local media said Sunday.

Iraqi Airstrike Kills 6 Senior Daesh Figures in Mosul
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703191051746353-iraq-airstrike-mosul/

The militants, all foreigners, included a Russian national called Abdul Karim Al Rusi who was in charge of the so called Tariq ibn Ziyad Battalion, as well as French, UK, Turkish and Moroccan nationals, the Al Sumaria channel reported, citing Iraqi intelligence sources.

Iraqi troops and pro-government militias are closing in on the remaining Daesh enclave in west Mosul months after starting the operation to liberate the city from terrorists. The eastern part of the city was liberated by the Iraqi troops, backed by the US-led international coalition, in January, with the advance on west Mosul starting in February.


According to media reports, NATO Resolute Support Mission Commander Gen. John Nicholson plans to request more troops in Afghanistan to prevent the country from becoming terrorist safe haven.

NATO Resolute Support Commander Calls for More Troops in Afghanistan
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201703261051974153-nato-afghanistan-troops/

NATO Resolute Support Mission Commander Gen. John Nicholson plans to request more troops in Afghanistan to prevent the country from becoming terrorist safe haven, local media reported Sunday.

We cannot afford to walk away from Afghanistan. This is where the war against terrorism started on 9/11. Failure here would embolden terrorists globally and there would be more members flocking to their banners. We would also see an increased number of migrants in the region coming into Europe," Nicholson, who leads US and international forces in Afghanistan, told The Sunday Times.

The request for more troops, which will be made at a NATO summit in May, is backed by US Defense Secretary James Mattis, according to the news outlet.

Nicholson said the key aim of 12,000 troops he leads in Afghanistan was to defeat the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group (banned in Russia, the United States and many other countries), adding that the Afghan government was controlling only about 75 percent of the country's territory.


Pentagon announced that a well-known al-Qaeda terrorist was killed in an airstrike conducted by the US forces in Afghanistan.

Senior al-Qaeda Terrorist Killed in US Airstrike in Afghanistan
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703261051969772-qaeda-terrorist-killed-afghenistan/

A well-known terrorist from al-Qaeda was killed in an airstrike conducted by the US forces in Afghanistan, US Department of Defense said on Sunday.

"The U.S. Department of Defense has confirmed that a U.S. counter-terrorism airstrike conducted March 19 in Paktika Province, Afghanistan, resulted in the death of Qari Yasin, a well-known al Qaida terrorist leader responsible for the deaths of dozens of innocent victims, including two American service members," the statement released by the Department reads.

According to the Pentagon, among other attacks that Yasin was responsible for was the bombing on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad on September 20, 2008, which left dozens of people killed, among them two US officers.

"The death of Qari Yasin is evidence that terrorists who defame Islam and deliberately target innocent people will not escape justice," US Secretary of Defense James Mattis said, as cited in the statement.

A total of 8,400 US troops is currently deployed in Afghanistan, conducting counterterrorism operations and advising, assisting and training local forces to fight the Taliban.
 
Washington is sending 200 to 300 additional US troops to Iraq to help with the offensive to liberate the city of Mosul, according to Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Colonel Joseph Scrocca.

US Sending 200 More Troops to Iraq to 'Advise and Assist' Mosul Offensive
https://sputniknews.com/world/201703271052011389-us-iraq-troops-mosul/

The United States is sending two more companies of soldiers to Iraq to help with the offensive to liberate the city of Mosul, Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Colonel Joseph Scrocca confirmed to US media on Monday.

"This is not a new capacity," Scrocca told ABC News. "It provides more advise and assist assets to our Iraqi partners."

The 200 to 300 additional troops are from the 82nd Airborne Division's second combat brigade, and their mission is expected to be a temporary one, according to media reports.

The Iraqi operation to recapture Mosul, the key stronghold of the Russia-outlawed terror group Islamic State in Iraq, began in October 2016 and resulted in the liberation of the city’s eastern part in January. Fighting continues in the Mosul's western part.


At least 112 bodies have been retrieved from the site of a March 17 airstrike by the US-led coalition in western Mosul, US media reported Monday, citing a senior Iraqi health official Ahmed Dubardani.

At Least 112 Bodies Found at Site of US-Led Coalition's Airstrike in Iraqi Mosul
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703271052011249-us-mosul-airstrike/

The bodies, which had been pulled over the past three days, were buried at al-Mamoun cemetery in western Mosul, the CNN broadcaster reported.

The Iraqi media reported about the death of about 200 civilians as a result of the airstrike carried out on the Daesh terrorist group's (banned in Russia) positions in Mosul. The coalition said in a press release on March 26 that a formal assessment had been opened to determine the validity of allegations on civilian casualties.


Private intelligence firm Soufan Group claims that despite any protection measures, more and more civilians will be killed in Mosul.

'Disaster': More Mosul Civilians to Die as Daesh-Held Space Shrinks - Report
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703271052006109-mosul-daesh-us-airstrikes-civilians/

The death toll for civilians will rise despite efforts to protect noncombatants, because of the Daesh terrorist group’s use of trapped residents as both hostages and weapons during a territorial last stand in Syria and Iraq, the private intelligence firm Soufan Group said in a report on Monday.

"There are still tens of thousands of civilians in western Mosul, and likely several thousand Islamic State [Daesh] fighters; the combination of these factors, coupled with a dense urban warfare environment, is a recipe for civilian disaster no matter how careful the US-led coalition and Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) are as they retake the city," the report stated.

The same applies to the Syrian city of Raqqa, which Daesh considers the capital of its self-declared caliphate.


Iraqi army forces took over two areas on Sunday as troops push deeper into western Mosul against ISIL terrorists, according to military media.

Iraqi Forces Recapture Two Areas in Western Mosul from ISIL
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960106000524

The army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Forces took over the Orouba district and the “industrial zone” in western Mosul, according to the Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell.

Iraqi government forces have been struggling to recapture central Mosul’s Old City, a vital target which commanders believe would be decisive in realizing victory against Islamic State in Mosul.


The Yemeni army and popular forces inflicted heavy losses on the Riyadh-led troops in an attack on their military base in the Southern part of the kingdom.

Saudi-Led Troops Sustain Heavy Losses in Yemeni Attacks on Key Military Base in Jizan Province
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960107000677

"A large number of the Saudi-led forces were killed and injured in the Yemeni forces' attacks on al-Beit al-Aswad in Jizan province," the Arabic-language media quoted an informed source as saying.

The source noted that al-Qavieh and al-Beit al-Abyaz military bases in Jizan province also came under Yemeni army attacks.

In relevant remarks last week, the official spokesman of the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Sharq Luqman, underlined that the country is in possession of advanced missiles which can hit the Saudi capital.

"We have been able to develop our weapons and make progress so that they can hit the Saudi capital," Luqman told al-Mayadeen news channel.

Noting that Borkan-2 missile was the first missile which could target King Salman airbase, he said that new missiles are underway.

Luqman said that after hitting Riyadh, the war in Yemen will enter a new stage and all equations will change.


A number of the Afghan security forces and civilians were killed and wounded in a terrorist attack on a security post in Eastern Nangarhar province the provincial government said in a statement.

Afghan Forces, Civilians Suffer Casualties in Nangarhar Attack
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960106000382

The statement said the attack was carried out in the vicinity of Najmuddin Akhundzada roundabout located in Behsud district, Khmma press reported.

The statement further added that two civilians were killed in the attack along with two soldiers inside the security post. Another soldier also sustained injuries in the attack, the provincial government added.

According to the local officials, the assailants also suffered casualties after the Afghan forces responded to their fire but the exact number has not been ascertained so far.

Nangarhar is among the relatively calm provinces in Eastern Afghanistan but the anti-government armed militant groups have recently increased their insurgency activities in some parts of the province during the recent years.

Taliban insurgents and militants affiliated with the ISIL terrorist group are actively operating in a number of the remote districts of Nangarhar.

This comes as the Afghan forces are busy conducting counter-insurgency operations in some of the restive districts of Nangarhar as part of the Shaheen-25 operations launched over a month ago.
 
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