Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Gunmen storm Pakistan airport, killing at least 11
• Kurdish rebels ramp up pressure ahead of Turkey vote
• Former UN envoy warns Syria becoming 'another Somalia'
• Iraqi militants target Kurds amid surge in sectarian killings
• Syria becoming warlord-run failed state: former peace envoy
• Bombing on Kurdish party HQ in Iraq kills 18
• News Guide: Races that will decide Senate control
• Two Kurdish protesters killed in Turkey's southeast
• Iran's greatest generation? Provocative filmmaker recasts Iran-Iraq war
• Attacks showcase strength of militants in Iraq
• Double bombing at party office kills 19 in Iraq
• Double bombing at party office kills 13 in Iraq
• Clinton embarks on book tour -- or is it campaign trail?
• Bomb attacks on Kurd party kill 17 in latest Iraq unrest

Gunmen storm Pakistan airport, killing at least 11 Posted: 08 Jun 2014 04:48 PM PDT KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Gunmen disguised as police guards attacked a terminal at Pakistan's busiest airport Sunday night with machine guns and a rocket launcher, killing at least 11 people as explosions echoed into the night, officials said. A separate suicide bombing in the country's southwest killed 23 Shiite pilgrims returning from Iran, authorities said.

Kurdish rebels ramp up pressure ahead of Turkey vote Posted: 08 Jun 2014 03:28 PM PDT Kurdish rebels in Turkey's southeast are ramping up attacks in a bid to pressure Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to speed up reforms ahead of presidential elections, analysts say. A recent spate of ambushes, kidnappings and roadblocks by Kurdish militants threatens to further erode the fraught relationship between Ankara and the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) ahead of Turkey's first direct presidential election in August. The PKK declared a ceasefire in March 2013, but peace talks stalled in September after the rebels said they were suspending their retreat from Turkish soil, accusing the government of failing to deliver on promised reforms. The upsurge in violence in the southeast is seen as a sign that the PKK -- blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Ankara and much of the international community -- is raising the stakes in order to secure greater concessions.

Former UN envoy warns Syria becoming 'another Somalia' Posted: 08 Jun 2014 12:41 PM PDT Former UN envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi has warned that the war-torn country was heading toward becoming "another Somalia" ruled by warlords, in an interview published in a German weekly this weekend. Brahimi, the former special representative on Syria for the United Nations and the Arab League, resigned in frustration last month after making little progress towards ending the brutal civil war, now in its fourth year. When asked what he predicted would ultimately become of Syria, the veteran Algerian diplomat told der Spiegel: "It will become another Somalia. Brahimi also painted a grim picture for the countries neighbouring Syria.

Iraqi militants target Kurds amid surge in sectarian killings Posted: 08 Jun 2014 09:16 AM PDT A suicide bomber has killed at least 18 people at a Kurdish political party office in Diyala province, the latest in a string of attacks by a Sunni militant group that has established bases in Iraq and Syria.  The northern city of Mosul, which lies close to semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, has also seen more fighting in recent days, raising fears of spreading unrest. A surge in sectarian violence in May – more than 900 Iraqis died, the highest monthly toll this year – has roiled Iraq, which is in a political vacuum as President Nouri al-Maliki tries to bolt together another parliamentary majority following elections in April. Critics have blamed Maliki's Shiite-dominated administration for inflaming Sunni-Shiite tensions in central Iraq and giving militants a rallying point for their insurgency.

Syria becoming warlord-run failed state: former peace envoy Posted: 08 Jun 2014 08:43 AM PDT Syria is descending into a Somalia-style failed state run by warlords which poses a grave threat to the future of the Middle East, former peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has said. Brahimi, who stepped down a week ago after the failure of peace talks he mediated in Geneva, said that without concerted efforts for a political solution to Syria's brutal civil war "there is a serious risk that the entire region will blow up." "The conflict is not going to stay inside Syria," he told Der Spiegel magazine in an interview published at the weekend. More than 160,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which grew out of protests against President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011, inspired by uprisings in the wider Arab world. Major powers at the United Nations have also been divided, paralyzing diplomatic efforts.

Bombing on Kurdish party HQ in Iraq kills 18 Posted: 08 Jun 2014 07:05 AM PDT At least 18 people were killed in two blasts at the headquarters of a Kurdish political party in Iraq's ethnically mixed province of Diyala on Sunday, local officials and medics said. Most of the victims of Sunday's attack were members of the Kurdish security forces who were guarding the office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party in the town of Jalawla, 115 km (70 miles) northeast of Baghdad. "A suicide bomber parked a car packed with explosives near the PUK headquarters and after it went off, he managed to sneak into the building and detonate his vest," said Khorsheed Ahmed, chairman of Jalawla city council. The explosions were the latest in a formidable show of strength by militants who in recent days have overrun parts of two major cities, occupied a university campus in western Iraq and set off a dozen car bombs in Baghdad.

News Guide: Races that will decide Senate control Posted: 08 Jun 2014 05:47 AM PDT While Democrats now hold control of the U.S. Senate, this fall's election has the potential to shift that leadership to the GOP.

Two Kurdish protesters killed in Turkey's southeast Posted: 08 Jun 2014 05:29 AM PDT Two people were killed on Saturday night in Turkey's southeast Diyarbakir province during clashes between the security forces and Kurdish protesters, security sources said. Several hundred protesters demonstrating against the construction of new military outposts threw petrol bombs at security forces before opening fire. Sources said the two protesters were shot dead in fighting that erupted as security forces returned fire. In a statement, the Turkish military referred to one of the two people killed as a militant and said the soldiers had responded after they were attacked with live ammunition, petrol bombs and homemade grenades.

Iran's greatest generation? Provocative filmmaker recasts Iran-Iraq war Posted: 08 Jun 2014 05:00 AM PDT The lights in the Tehran cinema go down, and from the wail of the first air raid siren to the climactic battles scenes, Iran's latest war movie transports the audience to another era's frontlines.On its face "The Ascendents" is a simple story about an Iranian father who tries to prevent his son, a top student, from volunteering for the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s war and from almost certain death. The film boasts vivid battle scenes, from the Iraqi bullets striking Iranian SEAL teams underwater, and grenades tumbling in slow motion toward Iraqi trenches, to the chaos of a night assault on barb-wired minefields and helicopter downings. But what elevates the film – and helped break box office records – is its penetrating look at the war still lauded three decades on in Iran as the "sacred defense." The film has grossed $1.5 million since late March, beating all other releases.  RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about Iran?

Attacks showcase strength of militants in Iraq Posted: 08 Jun 2014 03:47 AM PDT Three days of major jihadist attacks around Iraq, including on a university, have left dozens dead in a stark display of militant strength and the country's enormous security challenges. Militants assaulted the city of Samarra, battled security forces in Mosul, took hundreds of hostages at Anbar University in Ramadi and carried out numerous other attacks in Baghdad and elsewhere. Iraq is suffering its worst violence in years, and with none of the myriad problems that contribute to the heightened unrest headed for quick resolutions, the bloodshed is likely to continue unabated. Powerful jihadist group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has been blamed for most of the latest attacks, and is believed to be responsible for much of the violence in the country.

Double bombing at party office kills 19 in Iraq Posted: 08 Jun 2014 02:23 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — A double bombing at a Kurdish party office killed 19 people in a town northeast of Baghdad on Sunday, Iraqi officials said.

Double bombing at party office kills 13 in Iraq Posted: 08 Jun 2014 01:30 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Authorities in Iraq say a double bombing at a Kurdish party office has killed 13 people in a town northeast of Baghdad.

Clinton embarks on book tour -- or is it campaign trail? Posted: 07 Jun 2014 07:15 PM PDT Hillary Clinton embarks this week on her most high-profile tour since leaving the State Department, a cross-country bonanza where the American public and media will focus as much on her political future as her past. "Hard Choices," which details her four-year tenure as President Barack Obama's first secretary of state, hits bookshelves Tuesday and is the rationale for the publicity blitz. But the optics of Clinton's weeks-long book tour, when she comes face to face with voters and refreshes some of the skills she has not used as much since leaving public office last year, unavoidably suggest the opening salvo of a 2016 presidential run. Team Hillary has spent months carefully crafting a systematic rollout of the most anticipated book of the year, teasing the Beltway press corps with excerpts about her response to the deadly attacks in Benghazi and how America remains the "indispensable nation."

Bomb attacks on Kurd party kill 17 in latest Iraq unrest Posted: 07 Jun 2014 05:39 PM PDT A car bomb attack followed quickly by a suicide blast Sunday killed 17 people at a Kurdish political party's office north of Baghdad, as nine died in violence elsewhere in Iraq. Militants have launched major operations in multiple provinces in recent days, killing scores of people and highlighting both their long reach and the weakness of Iraqi security forces. Iraq is suffering its worst violence in years, and with none of the myriad problems that contribute to the heightened unrest headed for quick resolutions, the bloodshed is likely to continue unabated. In Sunday's deadliest attack, a car bomb exploded near an office of President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party and a Kurdish asayesh security forces building in the town of Jalawla, north of Baghdad.

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