Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Syrian rebel, friend of al Qaeda leader, killed by rival Islamists
• George W. Bush launches program to help veterans transition from war
• Top Qaeda operative killed in Syria suicide blast
• Iraq violence kills 17
• I have a duty to war vets, says George W. Bush
• Syrian rebels say senior al-Qaida fighter killed
• Iraq officials say attacks around capital kill 10
• Seventeen dead in bombings and shootings in Iraq
• Officials: Attacks around Iraq's capital kill 10
• China's foreign minister makes rare visit to Iraq
• Syria rebels say senior al-Qaida fighter killed
• Fogt gets 1st Olympic medal of US bobsled career
• Car bomb kills 14 in Syrian town on Turkish border: activists
• Rebels: Senior al-Qaida fighter killed in Syria
• Bomb hits Syria field hospital near Turkish border
• Iraqi helicopter crash kills 4-member crew
• Car bomb hits Syria hospital near Turkey: monitor

Syrian rebel, friend of al Qaeda leader, killed by rival Islamists Posted: 23 Feb 2014 12:04 PM PST By Mariam Karouny BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Syrian rebel commander who fought alongside al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and was close to its current chief, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was killed by a suicide attack on Sunday, intensifying infighting between rival Islamist fighters. The Observatory for Human Rights in Syria said Abu Khaled al-Soury, also known as Abu Omair al-Shamy, a commander of the Salafi group Ahrar al-Sham was killed along with six comrades by al Qaeda splinter group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). It said al-Soury had fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Sheikh Abu Khaled was an important jihadi figure, he fought the Americans in Iraq and in Afghanistan.

George W. Bush launches program to help veterans transition from war Posted: 23 Feb 2014 11:22 AM PST By Margaret Chadbourn WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. President George W. Bush on Sunday promoted a new initiative to help veterans transition back to civilian life and aid in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. The onetime commander-in-chief, who led the United States into war in Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003, said he wants to highlight the challenges facing service members returning from war zones, as well as their families. "I have a duty," Bush said in an interview that aired on Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "Obviously I get slightly emotional talking about our vets because I have an emotional...," Bush said, trailing off. About 2.5 million U.S. service members have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, according to the Department of Defense.

Top Qaeda operative killed in Syria suicide blast Posted: 23 Feb 2014 11:08 AM PST Al-Qaeda's representative in Syria was killed Sunday in a suicide bombing, the rebel Islamic Front announced on its Twitter account. Abu Khalid al-Suri, who was appointed last year by Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri as his representative, died in the northern city of Aleppo, said the group. The Islamic Front is the biggest rebel alliance in Syria, and it has been locked in battle with the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Iraq violence kills 17 Posted: 23 Feb 2014 11:04 AM PST Attacks in Iraq, including a series of shootings in the north, killed at least 17 people Sunday, officials said, as the country struggles to curb a year-long surge in violence. The deadliest single attack was a bomb that exploded on a highway between Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul, killing three police and four detainees who had been captured during a raid. Six shootings in Mosul itself -- one of the most dangerous parts of the country -- killed seven people, including the brother of a provincial councillor, a health directorate employee and three security forces members. In north Baghdad, a roadside bomb exploded near bicycle shops in the Sadr City area, killing at least two people and wounding at least seven, while another bombing in the Hurriyah area wounded at least three more people.

I have a duty to war vets, says George W. Bush Posted: 23 Feb 2014 10:38 AM PST Former US president George W. Bush, who sent troops to Iraq and Afghanistan during eight turbulent years at the White House, says he has "a duty" to thousands of American war veterans. Bush, whose two terms were shaped by the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States and wars that made him unpopular at home and abroad, has rarely stepped into the limelight since leaving the White House in 2009. With an estimated 6,800 US service members killed and 51,000 wounded during his time in office, Bush told ABC television's Sunday program "This Week": "Yeah, I have a duty." Bush, who as well as playing golf is using his spare time to support war veterans -- including launching a study on how to reintegrate returning vets into the civilian world -- added: "These are men and women who volunteered in the face of danger."

Syrian rebels say senior al-Qaida fighter killed Posted: 23 Feb 2014 10:32 AM PST BEIRUT (AP) — Two suicide bombers killed a senior al-Qaida operative on Sunday, blowing themselves up inside the militant leader's compound in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, rebels and activists said.

Iraq officials say attacks around capital kill 10 Posted: 23 Feb 2014 09:48 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Militants launched separate attacks shortly after sunset Sunday around the Iraqi capital, killing at least 10 people, officials said.

Seventeen dead in bombings and shootings in Iraq Posted: 23 Feb 2014 09:43 AM PST By Ghazwan Hassan and Kareem Raheem TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) - At least 17 people were killed and dozens wounded in bombings and shootings in northern Iraq and Baghdad on Sunday, police and medical sources said. In Baghdad, a bomb exploded in a second-hand market for bicycles and motorcycles in the Shi'ite neighborhood of Sadr City, killing five people and wounding 22, police and medical sources said. Gunmen attacked a police checkpoint and killed one policeman near the mainly Sunni town of Tarmiya, north of Baghdad, police sources said.

Officials: Attacks around Iraq's capital kill 10 Posted: 23 Feb 2014 08:43 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Authorities in Iraq say separate attacks around the country's capital, Baghdad, have killed at least 10 people.

China's foreign minister makes rare visit to Iraq Posted: 23 Feb 2014 07:38 AM PST Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks in Baghdad on Sunday on issues ranging from trade to arming Iraq's hard-pressed security forces, on the first such visit in over a decade. Wang met with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, during which the Iraqi premier called for "cooperation in the field of fighting terrorism," a statement from his office said. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari meanwhile hailed China as "the biggest trade partner for Iraq, and the biggest investor in the oil and electricity sectors," during a joint news conference with Wang. Chinese companies PetroChina and CNPC have substantial investments in Iraqi oil production, which accounts for the lion's share of government revenue.

Syria rebels say senior al-Qaida fighter killed Posted: 23 Feb 2014 07:18 AM PST BEIRUT (AP) — Two suicide bombers killed a senior al-Qaida operative on Sunday, blowing themselves up inside the militant leader's compound in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, rebels and activists said.

Fogt gets 1st Olympic medal of US bobsled career Posted: 23 Feb 2014 07:04 AM PST KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia (AP) — A couple of years ago, Chris Fogt was serving his country in war. On Sunday, he was representing his country on the medal podium at the Olympic Games.

Car bomb kills 14 in Syrian town on Turkish border: activists Posted: 23 Feb 2014 05:33 AM PST By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - At least 14 people were killed and 70 wounded in a car bombing on Sunday near a field hospital in a Syrian town on the border with Turkey that serves as a main supply line for rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad, activists said. The attack shattered relative calm in a region of far northern Syria that has been a safe haven for thousands of refugees fleeing the three-year civil war. The target was a hospital owned by Ghassan Abboud, a pro-opposition businessman who owns Orient Television. Orient Television, based in Dubai and broadcasting into Syria, has been vehement in its criticism of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), an al Qaeda splinter group that has seized several strategic areas along the border and choked supply lines to more moderate rebel groups in the interior.

Rebels: Senior al-Qaida fighter killed in Syria Posted: 23 Feb 2014 05:03 AM PST BEIRUT (AP) — A spokesman for a rebel coalition says a suicide bombing has killed a senior al-Qaida operative in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.

Bomb hits Syria field hospital near Turkish border Posted: 23 Feb 2014 03:47 AM PST BEIRUT (AP) — A car bomb exploded near a charity field hospital in northwestern Syria on Sunday, wounding mostly medics and patients, said activists and Turkish media.

Iraqi helicopter crash kills 4-member crew Posted: 23 Feb 2014 01:37 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi officials say a military helicopter has crashed in a remote area west of the capital, killing its four-member crew.

Car bomb hits Syria hospital near Turkey: monitor Posted: 22 Feb 2014 04:53 PM PST A car bomb explosion hit a hospital on Syria's border with Turkey Sunday, killing two people and wounding several more, a monitoring group said. A teenager and a medic working with rebel groups were killed in the car park blast close to the Orient hospital near the rebel-held border town of Atmeh, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. An activist told AFP on condition of anonymity that "everyone is accusing the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" of being behind the blast. Elsewhere in war-ravaged Syria, regime warplanes launched air strikes against rebel areas of Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria, the Observatory said.

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