Yahoo! News: Iraq

---

• New US strikes in Iraq include land-based bombers
• Obama heading back to DC in rare vacation break
• Obama tells lawmakers Iraq strikes in US interest
• White House: Obama authorized U.S. strikes on Mosul Dam in Iraq
• White House announces escalation of air strikes against ISIS in Iraq
• Ferguson Could End Militarizing Localizing Forces
• Kurds push to drive militants from Mosul Dam with U.S. air support
• Rebels caught in north Syria two-pronged onslaught
• Kurdish forces retake parts of Iraq's largest dam
• Months needed to repair facilities in Gaza: UN
• Injured New York Times correspondent describes helicopter crash on Mt. Sinjar
• Air raids kill 31 jihadists in Syria's Raqa: NGO
• Syrian government air strikes target Islamic State in Raqqa
• Syrian airstrikes target Islamic State group
• Iraqi officer who killed journalist jailed for life
• Kurdish militants train hundreds of Yazidis to fight Islamic State
• Kurdish Forces Retake Parts of Mosul Dam From ISIL with U.S. Help
• Saudi Arabia, Kuwait to abide by U.N. blacklisting of citizens
• UK must use 'military prowess' to help stop Islamic State: PM Cameron
• Germany against Iraq's Kurds forming independent state
• Australia to take 4,400 refugees from Syria, Iraq
• Displaced Iraq Yazidis left hungry and desperate
• Aid workers saving lives while fearing for their own
• Islamic State executed 700 people from Syrian tribe: monitoring group

New US strikes in Iraq include land-based bombers Posted: 17 Aug 2014 04:06 PM PDT EDGARTOWN, Massachusetts (AP) — The U.S. has expanded its air campaign in Iraq with attacks aimed at helping Iraqi forces regain control of the strategic Mosul dam.

Obama heading back to DC in rare vacation break Posted: 17 Aug 2014 03:59 PM PDT EDGARTOWN, Mass. (AP) — President Barack Obama is getting off the island.

Obama tells lawmakers Iraq strikes in US interest Posted: 17 Aug 2014 03:34 PM PDT US President Barack Obama told Congress on Sunday that the "limited" airstrikes he has authorized on Iraq to retake its largest dam from militants protected US interests. National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said the airstrikes supporting security forces were consistent with the War Powers Resolution, which requires congressional approval before the president can launch the country into war. The strikes have been conducted since Friday at the request of the Iraqi government, according to Hayden. It marked the biggest prize yet clawed back from Islamic State militants since they launched a major offensive in northern Iraq in early June.

White House: Obama authorized U.S. strikes on Mosul Dam in Iraq Posted: 17 Aug 2014 03:06 PM PDT The White House on Sunday said President Barack Obama had informed Congress he authorized U.S. air strikes in Iraq to help retake control of the Mosul Dam, and that the action was consistent with his goal of protecting U.S. citizens in that country. "The failure of the Mosul Dam could threaten the lives of large numbers of civilians, threaten U.S. personnel and facilities - including the U.S. embassy in Baghdad - and prevent the Iraqi government from providing critical services to the Iraqi populace," the White House said in a statement. "These operations are limited in their nature, duration, and scope and are being undertaken in coordination with and at the request of the government of Iraq." The Mosul Dam fell under the control of Islamic State militants earlier this month.

White House announces escalation of air strikes against ISIS in Iraq Posted: 17 Aug 2014 02:10 PM PDT In a statement attributed to National Security Council spokesperson Caitlin Hayden, the White House today announced that the US bombing campaign against ISIS in Iraq will expand beyond support of Kurdish forces to also include delivering assistance to the Iraqi army. Specifically, American air power is going "to support Iraqi Security Force operations to retake and establish control over the Mosul Dam," an important infrastructure target that's near the current front lines. In a letter to the congressional leadership, the White House states that any failure of the dam "could threaten the lives of large numbers of civilians, endanger US personnel and facilities, including the US Embassy in Baghdad, and prevent the Iraqi government from providing critical services to the Iraqi populace."

Ferguson Could End Militarizing Localizing Forces Posted: 17 Aug 2014 01:33 PM PDT A growing chorus of lawmakers is calling for a review of the Pentagon's program responsible for arming local police departments like Ferguson, Mo., with military equipment including armored vehicles, grenade launchers and tactical gear. The Ferguson police department's use of such equipment while responding to protests over the death of Michael Brown has prompted a handful of members of Congress to denounce or at least raise questions about the program that has equipped local police officers with M-16s and Kevlar helmets used by soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. "A militarized police force facing down innocent protesters with sniper rifles and machine guns is totally unacceptable in America," Rep. William Clay (D-MO) said on CNN's "State of the Union."

Kurds push to drive militants from Mosul Dam with U.S. air support Posted: 17 Aug 2014 01:06 PM PDT By Humeyra Pamuk DOHUK Iraq (Reuters) - Kurdish fighters pushed to retake Iraq's largest dam on Sunday in an attempt to reverse gains by Islamic State insurgents who have overrun much of the country's north, officials said. Islamic State militants have seized several towns and oilfields as well as Mosul Dam in recent weeks, possibly giving them the ability to flood cities or cut off water and electricity supplies. Asked about a Kurdish push to dislodge the militants on Sunday, a Kurdish official said they had not retaken the dam itself but had seized "most of the surrounding area". Islamic State militants have told residents in the area to leave, according to an engineer who works at the site.

Rebels caught in north Syria two-pronged onslaught Posted: 17 Aug 2014 01:03 PM PDT Western-backed rebels in northern Syria are fighting to survive in the face of advances on their strongholds both by jihadists and government forces, analysts and regime opponents say. The opposition has sounded the alarm, appealing indirectly to the international community to carry out air strikes on jihadist Islamic State (IS) positions in Syria, like the United States has done in Iraq. The IS jihadists, who have spread terror in Syria and seized vast swathes of land in Iraq, launched a lightning offensive Wednesday in northern Aleppo province, until now the centre of rebel strength, in order to cut off the rebels' supply route from adjoining Turkey. The jihadists, who punish their enemies with beheadings, crucifixions and stonings, on Saturday vowed their "determination to free the northern province (Aleppo) and chase out the rebels."

Kurdish forces retake parts of Iraq's largest dam Posted: 17 Aug 2014 12:29 PM PDT Kurdish forces took over parts of Iraq's largest dam on Sunday less than two weeks after it was captured by the Islamic State extremist group, Kurdish security officials said, as U.S. and Iraqi planes aided their advance by bombing militant targets near the facility.

Months needed to repair facilities in Gaza: UN Posted: 17 Aug 2014 11:44 AM PDT United Nations humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said Sunday on a visit to Iran that it will take months to repair damage to the UN's infrastructure caused by the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. "Damage to hospitals, schools and UNRWA shelters where people displaced sought refuge will take months to rebuild," she said, referring to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees. Amos was speaking to reporters at the start of a two-day visit for talks with Iranian officials on the humanitarian crises wreaked by conflicts in the Gaza Strip, Syria and Iraq. A total of 97 UNRWA installations, including health and food distribution centres as well as schools, have been damaged in the war since July 8 between Israel and the Hamas movement which controls the Gaza Strip.

Injured New York Times correspondent describes helicopter crash on Mt. Sinjar Posted: 17 Aug 2014 10:36 AM PDT Alissa J. Rubin, the New York Times foreign correspondent who suffered broken wrists and a fractured skull in a helicopter crash that killed the pilot and injured dozens of other passengers on Mount Sinjar last week, gave a chilling account of the incident Sunday.

Air raids kill 31 jihadists in Syria's Raqa: NGO Posted: 17 Aug 2014 10:29 AM PDT At least 31 Islamic State militants and eight civilians died in Syrian air force raids Sunday in the northern province of Raqa, a stronghold of the jihadist fighters, a monitoring group said. The air force carried out 16 raids on the city of Raqa and several more on the town of Tabqa in Raqa province, killing at least 31 jihadists and eight civilians, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Britain-based group's head, Rami Abdel Rahman, said the raids were the regime's "most intensive" against the Islamic State since the jihadists joined the more than three-year-old conflict in Syria in spring 2013.

Syrian government air strikes target Islamic State in Raqqa Posted: 17 Aug 2014 08:52 AM PDT Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad hammered the eastern Syrian city of Raqqa with more than two dozen air strikes on Sunday, targeting areas controlled by the Islamic State militant group, a monitoring group said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has tracked violence on all sides of the conflict that began in March 2011, said at least 31 fighters from the Islamic State were killed and dozens wounded in the air strikes that hit Raqqa city and the surrounding areas. It said 26 strikes on Sunday hit Islamic State buildings, including the military court and bases in the city. The conflict in Syria started when Assad cracked down on a pro-democracy uprising, which then armed itself.

Syrian airstrikes target Islamic State group Posted: 17 Aug 2014 08:45 AM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian government warplanes pounded an Islamic State group stronghold as well as other towns controlled by the extremists, conducting a wave of airstrikes Sunday that killed at least 11 people, activists said.

Iraqi officer who killed journalist jailed for life Posted: 17 Aug 2014 07:44 AM PDT The officer who killed an Iraqi journalist at a Baghdad checkpoint in March was sentenced to life imprisonment on Sunday, a spokesman for the judiciary said. "The central criminal court of Iraq, headed by Judge Beligh Hamdi, handed a sentence of life imprisonment to the defendant, who was accused of murdering journalist Mohammed Bidaiwi," Abdelsattar Bayraqdar said. The trial had marked a rare instance in Iraq where the murder of a journalist has been taken to court. Bidaiwi had been bureau chief for US-funded Radio Free Iraq since 2006 and was also an associate professor of journalism at Baghdad's Mustansiriyah University.

Kurdish militants train hundreds of Yazidis to fight Islamic State Posted: 17 Aug 2014 06:49 AM PDT By Youssef Boudlal SERIMLI MILITARY BASE Syria (Reuters) - Kurdish militants have trained hundreds of Yazidi volunteers at several camps inside Syria to fight Islamic State forces in Iraq, a member of the armed Kurdish YPG and a Reuters photographer who visited a training camp said on Sunday. The photographer spend Saturday at the training camp at the Serimli military base in Qamishli, northeastern Syria on the border with Iraqi Kurdistan, where he saw 55 Yazidis being trained to fight the Islamic State. "The Yazidi civilians want to stay in Syria because it is safer but the volunteers really want to go back to Iraq to fight," he said by phone.

Kurdish Forces Retake Parts of Mosul Dam From ISIL with U.S. Help Posted: 17 Aug 2014 06:32 AM PDT Kurdish forces have retaken parts of the Iraq's largest dam from ISIL extremists, says an Iraqi security official.  Gen. Tawfik Desty, a commander with the Kurdish forces at the dam, told the AP that peshmerga forces backed by Iraqi and U.S. airstrikes started the operation to retake Mosul Dam early Sunday.  The campaign to take back the dam, which has been going on for more than a week, was intensified Saturday when U.S. military launched an operation using jet fighters and armed drones that included nine airstrikes near Erbil and the Mosul Dam.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait to abide by U.N. blacklisting of citizens Posted: 17 Aug 2014 05:58 AM PDT Saudi Arabia and Kuwait agreed to comply with a United Nations resolution aimed at stopping financing for Islamist militant groups in Syria and Iraq after four of their nationals were named among a group blacklisted by the international body. The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Friday intended to weaken the Islamic State - an al Qaeda splinter group that has seized swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria and declared a caliphate - and al Qaeda's Syrian wing, Nusra Front.

UK must use 'military prowess' to help stop Islamic State: PM Cameron Posted: 17 Aug 2014 03:58 AM PDT By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - Britain should use its military prowess to tackle Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Sunday, saying they had to be stopped from creating "a terrorist state on the shores of the Mediterranean". In his toughest comments yet on IS, an al Qaeda splinter group, Cameron said Britain needed to adopt a more robust stance against Islamic State to prevent it from one day launching an attack on British soil, a warning he first issued in June. Britain has so far limited its role in Iraq to aid drops, surveillance and agreeing to transport military re-supplies to Kurdish forces.

Germany against Iraq's Kurds forming independent state Posted: 17 Aug 2014 03:53 AM PDT Germany is opposed to the formation of an independent state by Iraq's Kurds, who are currently battling Islamic State jihadists with Western help, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Sunday. "An independent Kurdish state would further destabilise the region and trigger new tensions, maybe with the neighbouring Iraqi state as well," he told the Bild newspaper in an interview. The aim, he added, "was to manage to preserve Iraq's territorial integrity". Kurdistan, in northern Iraq, is already an autonomous region.

Australia to take 4,400 refugees from Syria, Iraq Posted: 17 Aug 2014 02:30 AM PDT Australia will offer to resettle some 4,400 people fleeing violence in Iraq and Syria, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said Sunday, adding the places had been freed up by success in stopping asylum-seeker boats. Boat arrivals have all but dried up since Australia said it would refuse resettlement to any refugees arriving on unauthorised vessels, sending them instead to Papua New Guinea and Nauru in the Pacific. "The government's policies under Operation Sovereign Borders have not only saved lives at sea, but also allowed more places to be returned to our humanitarian programme for the world's most desperate and vulnerable people," he said. "The government has also committed a minimum of 2,200 places for Syrians, including those now living in desperate conditions in countries such as Lebanon," he added.

Displaced Iraq Yazidis left hungry and desperate Posted: 16 Aug 2014 11:43 PM PDT Scores of Yazidis, mainly children, who fled as jihadists overran their villages in northern Iraq are now sheltering in an abandoned construction site on the outskirts of Dohuk city. While they have found safety in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, the members of the Yazidi religious minority have little to celebrate, having lost loved ones, homes and their belongings. Four-year-old Alia, who arrived with five relatives, sobs with hunger on her mother Hazika Ahmed's knees. The children's father Nuweil Qassem Murad, a shepherd, was kidnapped by the jihadist Islamic State (IS) group as its fighters advanced in Iraq's Nineveh province from August 3, targeting minority groups and forcing many to flee.

Aid workers saving lives while fearing for their own Posted: 16 Aug 2014 07:53 PM PDT Aid workers rushing to save lives worldwide are increasingly becoming targets for attack, in a worrying development for NGOs trying to ease suffering in hostile war zones. From South Sudan, where roaming militias killed six aid workers this month -- three of them in an ambush -- to Gaza, where 11 UN staff were killed in attacks on UN-run shelters, relief workers are living dangerously. Over the past decade, the number of aid workers killed in attacks has tripled, reaching over 100 deaths per year, UN officials say. "Fifteen years ago, the greatest risk to the lives of aid workers were road traffic accidents.

Islamic State executed 700 people from Syrian tribe: monitoring group Posted: 16 Aug 2014 06:35 PM PDT By Oliver Holmes and Suleiman Al-Khalidi BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) - The Islamic State militant group has executed 700 members of a tribe it has been battling in eastern Syria during the past two weeks, the majority of them civilians, a human rights monitoring group and activists said on Saturday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has tracked violence on all sides of the three-year-old conflict, said reliable sources reported beheadings were used to execute many of the al-Sheitaat tribe, which is from Deir al-Zor province. The conflict between Islamic State and the al-Sheitaat tribe, who number about 70,000, flared after the militants took over two oil fields in July. "Some were arrested, judged and killed." Reuters cannot independently verify reports from Syria due to security conditions and reporting restrictions.

You are subscribed to email updates from Iraq News Headlines - Yahoo! News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610