Yahoo! News: Iraq

---

• Islamic State says it has full control of Iraq's Ramadi
• If Iraq's Ramadi falls, U.S. will help Baghdad take it back later: Pentagon
• IS jihadists take Ramadi but pinned back in Palmyra
• US says situation in Ramadi 'contested' after IS claims takeover
• Contested Iraqi city of Ramadi falls to Islamic State group
• Situation in Iraq's Ramadi 'fluid,' too early to say if Islamic State in control: U.S.
• Jordan's interior minister resigns, state media report
• Islamic state militants say in full control of Iraq's Ramadi: statement
• Netanyahu says not too late to stop Iran nuclear deal
• Why the risky raid to get 'Abu Sayyaf' in Syria? Who was he?
• GOP Hopefuls Reveal Major Line of Attack against Clinton
• Iraq war judged a mistake by today's White House hopefuls
• Lawmakers praise Islamic State raid, seek long-term strategy
• Iraq PM orders troops to hold fast in Ramadi: spokesman
• Governor's spokesman in Iraq's Anbar province says 'Ramadi has fallen' to Islamic State group
• Austrian schoolboy in court in 'IS bomb plot' case
• IS says it has taken all of Iraq's Ramadi
• Sahara Islamist leader Belmokhtar dismisses Islamic State pledge: report
• Bobby Jindal on Iraq: 'Parlor Games' Aren't 'Helpful'
• IS takes Ramadi as Iraqi forces pull out
• Will death make Tsarnaev a martyr? Experts say it depends
• IS jihadists seize command centre in Iraq's Ramadi: official
• Pope canonizes 2 saints from 19th-century Palestine
• About 600 US and Georgian troops hold joint exercises
• U.S., allies conduct 18 air strikes in Iraq, eight in Syria
• Syrian state TV: Army kills five Islamic State leaders in eastern Syria
• Bomb Strikes Kabul Airport as Taliban Steps Up Spring Offensive
• Egypt executes 6 militants for attack on soldiers
• Syrian official says situation in Palmyra 'under control'
• Jeb Bush: How serious is his Iraq War flub?
• With end of Syria war in sight, so must a postwar plan
• Egypt executes six militants for attack on soldiers
• US raid in Syria killed 32 IS members, including 4 leaders: monitor
• Islamic State pulls out of parts of Palmyra city: official, monitoring group
• The middle-class Islamists behind Tunisia's museum attack
• Rand Paul Attacks Clinton from the Right and the Left
• Special Report: The middle-class Islamists behind Tunisia's museum attack
• Islamic State recruits as Tunisia grapples with freedoms

Islamic State says it has full control of Iraq's Ramadi Posted: 17 May 2015 04:55 PM PDT Islamic State militants said they had taken full control of the western Iraqi city of Ramadi on Sunday in the biggest defeat for the Baghdad government since last summer. In a statement, the group said it had seized tanks and killed "dozens of apostates", its description for members of the Iraqi security forces. Ramadi is the capital of Iraq's western Anbar province, which is dominated by Sunni Muslims. It was the biggest victory for Islamic State in Iraq since security forces and Shi'ite paramilitary groups began pushing the militants back last year, aided by air strikes from a U.S.-led coalition.

If Iraq's Ramadi falls, U.S. will help Baghdad take it back later: Pentagon Posted: 17 May 2015 04:17 PM PDT The Pentagon said on Sunday that Islamic State militants had gained the advantage in fighting in Ramadi and that if the western Iraqi city fell, the U.S.-led coalition would support Iraqi forces "to take it back later." While stopping short of confirming Islamic State's statement it had seized full control of Anbar province's capital, the Defense Department appeared to leave open that possibility, which would mark a major defeat for the Baghdad government. "Ramadi has been contested since last summer and ISIL now has the advantage," Pentagon spokeswoman Elissa Smith said, using another acronym for Islamic State. She said the loss of the city would not mean the overall Iraq military campaign was turning in Islamic State's favor, but acknowledged it would give the group a "propaganda boost." "That just means the coalition will have to support Iraqi forces to take it back later," Smith said, adding that the United States continued providing it with air support and advice.

IS jihadists take Ramadi but pinned back in Palmyra Posted: 17 May 2015 03:52 PM PDT The Islamic State group sealed its capture of Ramadi Sunday after a dramatic pullout by Iraqi forces but was prevented by Syrian troops from taking the heritage site of Palmyra. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi urged government forces to hold fast in Ramadi and prevent IS from making further gains, saying they would have air cover and Shiite militia reinforcements. The effective loss of the capital of Iraq's largest province of Anbar marked one of Baghdad's worst setbacks since it began a nationwide offensive last year to reclaim territory lost to the jihadists in June 2014.

US says situation in Ramadi 'contested' after IS claims takeover Posted: 17 May 2015 03:25 PM PDT The Pentagon said Sunday the situation in Ramadi, which IS militants claim to have seized from Iraqi forces, remains "fluid and contested" and it is following reports of continued violence in the strategic city. "We're continuing to monitor reports of tough fighting in Ramadi and the situation remains fluid and contested," Pentagon spokeswoman Maureen Schumann told AFP in a statement. The Islamic State group said earlier Sunday it had taken full control of the Iraqi city after a bloody assault, in a statement posted on jihadist Internet forums. After the claim, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered government forces to "hold their positions" in Ramadi, capital of Iraq's largest province of Anbar.

Contested Iraqi city of Ramadi falls to Islamic State group Posted: 17 May 2015 03:09 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — The contested city of Ramadi fell to the Islamic State group on Sunday, as Iraqi forces abandoned their weapons and armored vehicles to flee the provincial capital in a major loss despite intensified U.S.-led airstrikes.

Situation in Iraq's Ramadi 'fluid,' too early to say if Islamic State in control: U.S. Posted: 17 May 2015 02:53 PM PDT The Pentagon said on Sunday it was monitoring reports of continued fighting in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi and that the situation remained "fluid and contested," despite an assertion by Islamic State militants that they had seized full control there. "It is too early to make definitive statements about the situation on the ground there at this time," said Defense Department spokeswoman Maureen Schumann when asked if the United States had confirmed Islamic State's statement that Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, had completely fallen. She said the United States was "continuing to monitor reports of tough fighting in Ramadi and the situation remains fluid and contested." The routing of Iraqi forces in Ramadi, where security sources said they lost a key military base on Sunday, would mark the biggest defeat for Baghdad since last summer.

Jordan's interior minister resigns, state media report Posted: 17 May 2015 01:58 PM PDT AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan's interior minister resigned over an alleged failure of security agencies to coordinate, state media reported Sunday, but did not elaborate.

Islamic state militants say in full control of Iraq's Ramadi: statement Posted: 17 May 2015 01:50 PM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Islamic State said its fighters had taken full control over the Iraqi city of Ramadi on Sunday after overrunning a military base on the edge of the western provincial capital. In a statement, the group said it had seized tanks and killed "dozens of apostates", referring to Iraqi security forces. (Reporting by Ali Abdelaty; Writing by Isabel Coles)

Netanyahu says not too late to stop Iran nuclear deal Posted: 17 May 2015 12:50 PM PDT Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday there was still time to stop an Iranian agreement with world powers that he says would give Tehran nuclear arms. "It's still not too late to retract the plan that gives Iran an agreement which will pave it a road to a nuclear weapon," he said at a ceremony marking Israel's capture of Arab east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War. The United States as well as Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany are in the midst of negotiations with Tehran to finalise a deal by June 30 that would prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, in exchange for an easing of crippling economic sanctions. Israel says that Iran cannot be trusted to honour the nascent deal, which is anyway full of loopholes.

Why the risky raid to get 'Abu Sayyaf' in Syria? Who was he? Posted: 17 May 2015 12:42 PM PDT Politicians from across the American political spectrum have been lining up to say "job well done" about a daring raid involving US Special Operations Forces in Syria that ended in the death of a member of the so-called Islamic State called "Abu Sayyaf" and the capture of a woman who US officials say is his wife. The US said the raid was conducted from Iraqi territory and hit the man - the aim was to capture him, the US said - in a place called al-Amr in the eastern Syrian province of Deir al-Zour, which borders Iraq's Anbar and Nineveh provinces, two hotbeds of IS activity.

GOP Hopefuls Reveal Major Line of Attack against Clinton Posted: 17 May 2015 12:30 PM PDT If the Sunday morning talk shows and the GOP's Lincoln Dinner in Des Moines on Saturday night are any indication, a primary Republican punching bag for 2016 will be the Obama administration's foreign policy—especially during Hillary Rodham Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State. GOP presidential hopefuls aggressively went after Clinton last night and today for her "failed" policies at the State Department—which, they said, have left the world worse off than ever before. "Just about everywhere that Hillary Clinton has played a role with this president, that part of the world is largely a failure, a mess, because of what we've seen from Obama and Clinton," Walker told Bob Schieffer. Walker, who has hinted that he will be announcing his candidacy for president in June, blasted the Obama administration for its handling of the drawdown of the Iraq war.

Iraq war judged a mistake by today's White House hopefuls Posted: 17 May 2015 12:06 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — A dozen years later, American politics has reached a rough consensus about the Iraq War: It was a mistake.

Lawmakers praise Islamic State raid, seek long-term strategy Posted: 17 May 2015 12:02 PM PDT American lawmakers praised a U.S. raid that killed an Islamic State leader in Syria, but it was not clear whether such risky special operations represented a new approach in the fight against the militant group. U.S. Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives intelligence committee, called the raid on Saturday that killed Abu Sayyaf "a striking and risky success" in the heart of Islamic State territory. He said U.S. authorities would have to weigh the dangers of such raids, such as civilian casualties or the capture or killing of American special forces, against the potential intelligence value. "I don't think it signals a wholsesale effort to mount lots of special operations efforts like we had in Afghanistan and Iraq," he said on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday.

Iraq PM orders troops to hold fast in Ramadi: spokesman Posted: 17 May 2015 11:53 AM PDT Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Sunday ordered government forces to "hold their positions" in Ramadi, after the Islamic State group said it overran the strategic city, his spokesman said. Abadi said troops, tribesmen and other elite forces "must hold their positions and preserve them and not allow Daesh (IS) to extend to other areas in Ramadi," spokesman Saad al-Hadithi said.

Governor's spokesman in Iraq's Anbar province says 'Ramadi has fallen' to Islamic State group Posted: 17 May 2015 11:50 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Governor's spokesman in Iraq's Anbar province says 'Ramadi has fallen' to Islamic State group.

Austrian schoolboy in court in 'IS bomb plot' case Posted: 17 May 2015 11:28 AM PDT An Austrian teenager suspected of having links with the Islamic State group is to appear in court Tuesday, accused of planning to bomb a Vienna train station when he was just 14. Arrested at school in October 2014, police said the boy has admitted he was trying to make a bomb, and that he was planning to plant it at one of Vienna's main stations. Prosecutors said he was "actively" seeking to make a bomb, but his lawyer Rudolf Mayer told AFP he had only been "playing with the idea". According to unconfirmed press reports, IS had promised the teenager 25,000 euros ($28,000) to commit the Vienna attack.

IS says it has taken all of Iraq's Ramadi Posted: 17 May 2015 11:00 AM PDT Baghdad (AFP) - The Islamic State group said on Sunday it has taken full control of the Iraqi city of Ramadi after a bloody assault, in a statement posted on jihadist Internet forums.

Sahara Islamist leader Belmokhtar dismisses Islamic State pledge: report Posted: 17 May 2015 10:45 AM PDT Veteran Algerian jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar has rejected a pledge of allegiance to Islamic State by the co-founder of his al-Mourabitoun Islamist group, revealing a rift in one of the Sahara's most dangerous militant groups. Last week, Mauritania's Alakhbar news website posted a recording of a speaker calling himself Adnan Abu Waleed al-Sahrawi claiming to speak on behalf of al-Mourabitoun and urging all jihadi groups to follow Islamic State's self-proclaimed caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Al-Mourabitoun was established in 2013 by uniting fighters loyal to Belmokhtar, one of the Sahara's best known jihadists, and MUJWA, an Islamist group operating in West Africa that was headed by Al-Sahrawi.

Bobby Jindal on Iraq: 'Parlor Games' Aren't 'Helpful' Posted: 17 May 2015 10:14 AM PDT Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal wouldn't say whether the Iraq war was a good idea in hindsight, but he would say that such hypothetical questions aren't "helpful."Jindal spoke with ABC News after the Iowa GOP's Lincoln Day Dinner in Des Moines, Iowa, Saturday night, responding to the same question that followed former Florida Gov. ...

IS takes Ramadi as Iraqi forces pull out Posted: 17 May 2015 09:45 AM PDT Iraqi government forces staged a desperate retreat from their last bases in Ramadi on Sunday, effectively giving the Islamic State group full control of the capital of Iraq's largest province. An estimated 500 civilians and security forces have been killed since IS launched a fresh offensive in Ramadi late Thursday, an official said, warning that those left behind risked being massacred. "Anbar operations command has been cleared," Muhannad Haimour, spokesman and adviser to the provincial governor, told AFP. Army, police, counter-terrorism and local tribal forces had been confined to the operations command base on the northern bank of the Euphrates and the large judicial compound facing it.

Will death make Tsarnaev a martyr? Experts say it depends Posted: 17 May 2015 09:01 AM PDT BOSTON (AP) — Does putting Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death make him a martyr for the cause?

IS jihadists seize command centre in Iraq's Ramadi: official Posted: 17 May 2015 08:42 AM PDT Islamic State group fighters on Sunday took over the provincial operations command centre in Ramadi, putting the jihadists on the brink of capturing the Iraqi city, officials said. "Anbar operations command has been cleared," Muhannad Haimour, spokesman and adviser to the provincial governor, told AFP. Army, police, counter-terrorism and local tribal forces had been confined to the operations command base on the northern bank of the Euphrates and the large judicial compound facing it. "Ramadi has not fallen, there are still people fighting in some neighbourhoods," Haimour insisted.

Pope canonizes 2 saints from 19th-century Palestine Posted: 17 May 2015 07:48 AM PDT VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis canonized two nuns from what was 19th-century Palestine on Sunday in hope of encouraging Christians across the Middle East who are facing a wave of persecution from Islamic extremists.

About 600 US and Georgian troops hold joint exercises Posted: 17 May 2015 07:21 AM PDT TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — About 600 U.S. and Georgian troops are conducting joint exercises aimed at training the armed forces of the former Soviet republic for participation in the NATO Response Force.

U.S., allies conduct 18 air strikes in Iraq, eight in Syria Posted: 17 May 2015 07:12 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and allied forces have launched 18 air strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq since Saturday morning, including seven near Ramadi, the western provincial capital recently seized by the militant forces, the U.S. military said. The strikes near Ramadi hit targets including tactical units, a facility producing improvised explosive devices, and other buildings, the Combined Joint Task Force said in a statement on Sunday. Islamic State militants seized most of Ramadi on Friday and overran one of the last remaining districts held by government forces on Sunday. ...

Syrian state TV: Army kills five Islamic State leaders in eastern Syria Posted: 17 May 2015 07:02 AM PDT The Syrian army has killed five Islamic State leaders in an attack in eastern Syria, Syrian state TV reported on Saturday. The United States said on Saturday its U.S. special forces had carried out a raid that killed a Tunisian identified as a leading Islamic State member in the same area of Syria.

Bomb Strikes Kabul Airport as Taliban Steps Up Spring Offensive Posted: 17 May 2015 07:00 AM PDT A bomb aimed at Europeans in Afghanistan to train police instead killed three civilians near the capital city's airport on Sunday, including two Afghan teenagers. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the BBC. Tornadoes were reported in nine states between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, with the potential for more in parts of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Republicans in Iowa: At an event hosted in Des Moines on Saturday by the Iowa Republican Party, undeclared candidates Jeb Bush and Lindsay Graham and announced candidate Rand Paul discussed the Iraq War.

Egypt executes 6 militants for attack on soldiers Posted: 17 May 2015 06:43 AM PDT By Michael Georgy CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt has executed six members of a Sinai-based militant group with links to Islamic State for carrying out an attack on soldiers near Cairo last year, their lawyer said on Sunday. The group, Sinai Province, has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the army toppled Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in 2013 after mass protests against his rule. A military court tried of members of Sinai Province, which has pledged allegiance to Islamic State, the ultra-hardline Sunni group that has seized large parts of Iraq and Syria.

Syrian official says situation in Palmyra 'under control' Posted: 17 May 2015 06:41 AM PDT DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A Syrian official said Sunday that the situation is "fully under control" in Palmyra despite breaches by Islamic State militants who pushed into the historic town a day earlier.

Jeb Bush: How serious is his Iraq War flub? Posted: 17 May 2015 06:14 AM PDT Was there method in the seeming madness of Jeb Bush's pretty bad week on the Iraq War? His four-day stumble over what he might or might not have done about the costly invasion and occupation of Iraq launched by his older brother did smoke out all the other Republican candidates on the subject. "No," they said to a man, "Knowing what we know now [about the faulty – some say concocted – intelligence on Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction and connections to al Qaeda], I would not have done what George W. Bush did." Or words to that effect, which Hillary Clinton has had to say too since as a US Senator she voted to approve US military action in Iraq. "I would like to think, based on my years in intelligence, that I would have questioned the intelligence more severely," Mr. Gates says.

With end of Syria war in sight, so must a postwar plan Posted: 17 May 2015 05:02 AM PDT Syria's long war is not over yet but the world might want to start planning for it. Despite a reluctance to deploy combat soldiers in Syria, President Obama sent Special Operations forces to the country Friday to kill a top Islamic State leader. Also this month, the US began to train hundreds of Syrian rebels to take on IS – rebels who could also help topple the Assad regime. All this raises an obvious question: Who is planning for a post-Assad Syria?

Egypt executes six militants for attack on soldiers Posted: 17 May 2015 04:15 AM PDT By Michael Georgy CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt has executed six members of a Sinai-based militant group with links to Islamic State for carrying out an attack on soldiers near Cairo last year, their lawyer said on Sunday. The group, Sinai Province, has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the army toppled Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in 2013 after mass protests against his rule. A military court tried of members of Sinai Province, which has pledged allegiance to Islamic State, the ultra-hardline Sunni group that has seized large parts of Iraq and Syria.

US raid in Syria killed 32 IS members, including 4 leaders: monitor Posted: 17 May 2015 04:08 AM PDT A US special forces raid in eastern Syria killed 32 members of the Islamic State jihadist group, including four leaders, a monitoring group said Sunday. "The US operation killed 32 members of IS, among them four officials, including IS oil chief Abu Sayyaf, the deputy IS defence minister, and an IS communications official," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. US officials have said "about a dozen" people were killed in the operation on Friday night, which was conducted by Iraq-based US commandos in order to capture Abu Sayyaf. Abdel Rahman said three of the four leading officials killed in the raid were from North Africa, but that the IS communications official was Syrian.

Islamic State pulls out of parts of Palmyra city: official, monitoring group Posted: 17 May 2015 03:47 AM PDT Islamic State militants have withdrawn from areas in the historic city of Palmyra they had seized on Saturday, a group monitoring the conflict in Syria and a Syrian official said. The militant group's attack on the government-held city of Palmyra, also known as Tadmur, has raised concern its World Heritage site could meet the same fate as ancient monuments the group has destroyed in Iraq. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring organization, said Islamic State fighters had pulled out of northern areas of the city taken on Saturday but still held a village to the north of Palmyra.

The middle-class Islamists behind Tunisia's museum attack Posted: 17 May 2015 03:08 AM PDT By Patrick Markey and Tarek Amara SBIBA, Tunisia (Reuters) - One of the young men was a high school literature student who helped his father tend the family olive trees in their isolated farming community near the Algerian border. Jabeur Khachnaoui and Yassine el-Abidi came from stable, middle-class families and were well educated. On March 18, they came together to attack Tunisia's Bardo Museum, shooting foreign tourists as they filed off buses outside the museum, and then taking more tourists hostage inside. Their stories show how difficult it will be for Tunisia to stop others making similar journeys. The country and region are full of young men like Khachnaoui and Abidi, and Islamist groups are increasingly targeting middle-class recruits.       The Bardo massacre has also reopened debate on the country's delicate balance between the need for security, and the rare freedoms enjoyed by both secular Tunisians and conservative Islamists.

Rand Paul Attacks Clinton from the Right and the Left Posted: 17 May 2015 02:30 AM PDT Left-wing Democrats have been pummeling the party's presumptive nominee, Hillary Rodham Clinton, with something close to abandon, and there has been a good deal of focus on what  effect some of the more prominent progressive voices are likely to have on her campaign for the presidential nomination. Clinton's first declared challenger, the Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, refers to himself as a Democratic Socialist and inhabits a political realm far to Clinton's left, where Big Business is automatically suspect and the government has a moral obligation to do more for the poor and unfortunate. While not a candidate, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is also pressing Clinton from the left by highlighting transgressions of the financial industry and the shortcomings of President Obama's Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. On issues like domestic surveillance, foreign military entanglements and criminal justice reform, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) can go at Clinton from a direction usually reserved for her fellow Democrats.

Special Report: The middle-class Islamists behind Tunisia's museum attack Posted: 17 May 2015 12:27 AM PDT By Patrick Markey and Tarek Amara SBIBA, Tunisia (Reuters) - One of the young men was a high school literature student who helped his father tend the family olive trees in their isolated farming community near the Algerian border. Jabeur Khachnaoui and Yassine el-Abidi came from stable, middle-class families and were well educated. On March 18, they came together to attack Tunisia's Bardo Museum, shooting foreign tourists as they filed off buses outside the museum, and then taking more tourists hostage inside. Their stories show how difficult it will be for Tunisia to stop others making similar journeys. The country and region are full of young men like Khachnaoui and Abidi, and Islamist groups are increasingly targeting middle-class recruits.       The Bardo massacre has also reopened debate on the country's delicate balance between the need for security, and the rare freedoms enjoyed by both secular Tunisians and conservative Islamists.

Islamic State recruits as Tunisia grapples with freedoms Posted: 17 May 2015 12:26 AM PDT By Patrick Markey and Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisian militants have fought in foreign wars for decades, from Afghanistan to Somalia to Iraq. Since then, a caretaker government and a coalition government elected at the end of 2014 have taken a tougher line, going to court to take back mosques, sweeping up hundreds of suspected militants, and curbing militant websites that recruit for Iraq and Syria. Journalist Hedi Yahmed, whose book, "Beneath the Black flag: Tunisia's Salafists," features interviews with Tunisian militants fighting in Iraq, Somalia and Syria, said the jihadi phenomenon was driven in part by the end of 20 years of religious repression. "This generation has to deal with this image of Tunisia that is liberal, secular, that gives freedoms to women.

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., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States