Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Islamic State grabs Iraqi dam and oilfield in victory over Kurds
• Sunni insurgents seize small towns in Iraq's north
• Iran's elite Guards fighting in Iraq to push back Islamic State
• ISIS Seizes More Towns and Possibly Control of Iraq's Biggest Dam
• Lufthansa says to resume flights to Arbil in northern Iraq
• Lebanese army tries to expel Syria-linked militants from border town
• Iraq jihadists seize another town from Kurdish forces
• Jordan airline resumes flights to Iraq
• Royal Jordanian resumes Baghdad flights
• French, German leaders pay emotional tribute to WWI fallen
• Farming reforms offer hope for Iran's water crisis
• Royal Jordanian airline suspends flights to Iraq on security concerns
• Late to the party, Obama seeks bigger U.S. Africa role
• Eight Lebanese soldiers killed in border town fight: army

Islamic State grabs Iraqi dam and oilfield in victory over Kurds Posted: 03 Aug 2014 04:06 PM PDT By Ahmed Rasheed and Raheem Salman BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Islamic State fighters seized control of Iraq's biggest dam, an oilfield and three more towns on Sunday after inflicting their first major defeat on Kurdish forces since sweeping across much of northern Iraq in June. Capture of the electricity-generating Mosul Dam, after an offensive of barely 24 hours, could give the Sunni militants the ability to flood major Iraqi cities or withhold water from farms, raising the stakes in their bid to topple Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite-led government. "The terrorist gangs of the Islamic State have taken control of Mosul Dam after the withdrawal of Kurdish forces without a fight," said Iraqi state television. The swift withdrawal of the peshmerga troops was an apparent severe blow to one of the few forces in Iraq that until now had stood firm against the Sunni Islamist fighters who aim to redraw the borders of the Middle East.

Sunni insurgents seize small towns in Iraq's north Posted: 03 Aug 2014 03:22 PM PDT IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Militants with the Islamic State extremist group on Sunday seized two small towns in northern Iraq after driving out Kurdish security forces, further expanding the territories under their control, officials and residents said.

Iran's elite Guards fighting in Iraq to push back Islamic State Posted: 03 Aug 2014 03:09 PM PDT By Babak Dehghanpisheh BEIRUT (Reuters) - In early July, hundreds of mourners gathered for the funeral of Kamal Shirkhani in Lavasan, a small town northeast of the Iranian capital Tehran. The crowd carried the coffin past posters which showed Shirkhani in the green uniform of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and identified him as a colonel. Shirkhani did not die in a battle inside Iran. He was killed nearly a hundred miles away from the Iranian border in a mortar attack by the militants of the Islamic State "while carrying out his mission to defend" a revered Shiite shrine in the city of Samarra, according to a report on Basij Press, a news site affiliated with the Basij militia which is overseen by the Revolutionary Guards.

ISIS Seizes More Towns and Possibly Control of Iraq's Biggest Dam Posted: 03 Aug 2014 02:59 PM PDT The Islamic State (formerly ISIS) swept across northern Iraq over the weekend, reportedly defeating Kurdish forces for the first time, and was rumored to have captured a vital dam near Mosul. First, the radical Sunni group was said to have taken control of three towns within the triangular border area between Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. Previously held by the Kurds, this corridor will presumably allow the group to pass weapons and fighters between the conflicts in Syria and Iraq. Then, there was the matter of the Mosul Dam. From CNN:

Lufthansa says to resume flights to Arbil in northern Iraq Posted: 03 Aug 2014 01:59 PM PDT (Reuters) - German airline Deutsche Lufthansa said it would resume flights to and from Arbil in northern Iraq starting on Monday, but would continue to avoid airspace above the area controlled by the Islamic State militant group. Flights to Asia and other parts of the Middle East also would continue to detour around Iraq, Europe's largest airline by revenue said in an emailed statement on Sunday. The changes in flight routes would apply to Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo, Austrian Airlines and Swiss, the carrier said, adding that the new flight routes would not significantly lengthen flight times. Lufthansa's decision came a day after Royal Jordanian - one of the main airlines serving Iraq - said it had suspended all flights to Baghdad for at least 24 hours for security reasons.

Lebanese army tries to expel Syria-linked militants from border town Posted: 03 Aug 2014 01:43 PM PDT By Alexander Dziadosz BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese soldiers traded fire with Islamist gunmen and shelled areas around the border town of Arsal on Sunday aiming to roll back the biggest incursion by militants into Lebanon since Syria's civil war began. Security officials said 13 Lebanese soldiers had died in the fighting, which erupted after Islamists seized a police station following the arrest of one of their leaders on Saturday - an attack that army chief General Jean Kahwaji said was premeditated. An unknown number of militants and civilians, possibly dozens, were also killed in the fighting. More than a dozen members of Lebanon's security forces were taken captive, while some 15 soldiers are also missing, security sources said.

Iraq jihadists seize another town from Kurdish forces Posted: 03 Aug 2014 01:08 PM PDT Jihadists raised their black flag in Iraq's northern town of Sinjar Sunday in a second straight day of advances against Kurdish forces, sparking mass displacement the UN called a humanitarian tragedy. The Islamic State's capture of Sinjar raised fears for minority groups that had found refuge there and further blurs the border between the Syrian and Iraqi parts of the "caliphate" which the IS declared in June. "The (Kurdish) peshmerga have withdrawn from Sinjar, Daash has entered the city," Kurdish official Kheiri Sinjari told AFP, using the former Arabic acronym for the IS. Other officials confirmed the fall of the town between the Syrian border and Mosul, which is Iraq's second city and has been the IS hub there since it launched a major onslaught on June 9.

Jordan airline resumes flights to Iraq Posted: 03 Aug 2014 11:57 AM PDT Royal Jordanian , one of the main airlines serving Iraq, said on Sunday it had resumed flights to Iraq after a 24-hour suspension due to security concerns. The airline did not elaborate in its statement on why it reversed the decision it took on Saturday to halt flights to Iraq until further notice. Royal Jordanian has a weekly total of 30 flights to Iraq, serving Baghdad 11 times a week, as well as Basra in the south, and Irbil and Sulaymaniya in the Kurdish north. It stopped its twice-weekly flights to Mosul shortly after the northern city fell in June to the Islamic State militant group.

Royal Jordanian resumes Baghdad flights Posted: 03 Aug 2014 11:29 AM PDT Amman (AFP) - Royal Jordanian said it resumed flights to the Iraqi capital on Sunday after a 24-hour suspension decided for security reasons.

French, German leaders pay emotional tribute to WWI fallen Posted: 03 Aug 2014 06:51 AM PDT French President Francois Hollande and his German counterpart Joachim Gauck paid emotional tributes Sunday to the millions of soldiers who died during World War I, exactly 100 years after Germany declared hostilities against France. The two leaders gathered at Hartmannswillerkopf where 30,000 soldiers lost their lives in fierce battles around the mountain peak known as the "man-eater" in France's Alsace region near the border between the two countries. "France and Germany, beyond their suffering and bereavements, had the courage to make up -- it was the best way to honour the dead and provide a guarantee of peace to the living," he said. Their friendship is "an example for the world, a strength and an invitation, wherever peace is threatened, wherever human rights are violated, wherever the principles of international law are flouted.

Farming reforms offer hope for Iran's water crisis Posted: 03 Aug 2014 06:12 AM PDT By Michelle Moghtader DUBAI (Reuters) - As a child, Mohammad Rahmanpour spent his summers swimming in Lake Orumieh in northwestern Iran - then the largest in the Middle East. Excessive damming of rivers, bad irrigation practices, drought and climate change have all contributed to Iran's water crisis.

Royal Jordanian airline suspends flights to Iraq on security concerns Posted: 03 Aug 2014 02:39 AM PDT Royal Jordanian, one of the main airlines serving Iraq, said on Saturday it had suspended all flights to Baghdad for at least 24 hours on security grounds. The Jordanian state carrier was "monitoring security developments" in Iraq and would review the resumption of flights over Iraqi airspace on Sunday, said Basel Al Kilani, an airline spokesman. Royal Jordanian until recently had an extensive network over Iraq, with a weekly total of 30 flights, serving Baghdad 11 times a week, as well as Basra in the south, and Irbil and Sulaymaniya in the Kurdish north. It stopped its twice-weekly flights to Mosul shortly after the northern city fell in June to the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

Late to the party, Obama seeks bigger U.S. Africa role Posted: 03 Aug 2014 01:41 AM PDT By Aaron Maasho and Pascal Fletcher CAMP LEMONNIER Djibouti/JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Ask Major-General Wayne W. Grigsby Jr., the top U.S. military officer in Africa, how he thinks U.S. and European-backed African troops are faring in their war on Islamist militants in Somalia, and his answer comes back smartly: "Pretty darn good!". The Aug. 4-6 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, billed by U.S. officials as a first-of-its-kind event, looks like a belated imitation of Africa gatherings hosted in recent years by China, India, Japan and the continent's former colonial master Europe.

Eight Lebanese soldiers killed in border town fight: army Posted: 03 Aug 2014 12:29 AM PDT Eight Lebanese soldiers were killed in clashes with Islamist militants that began on Saturday in and around the town of Arsal near the Syrian border and continued overnight, the army said on Sunday. Earlier Lebanese security officials said that at least 11 militants and three civilians had been killed in the fighting and that around 16 members of the security forces had been taken hostage. The militants included fighters from al Qaeda's Syrian branch and from Islamic State, a radical Sunni group that has seized control of large areas of Syria and Iraq, Lebanese security officials said. The fighting erupted on Saturday when militants seized a police station in Arsal after one of their leaders was arrested by Lebanese security forces at a checkpoint around Arsal.

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