Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Pentagon: American killed in raid to free Iraqis held by IS
• Scores of Syrian Kids Are Now the ‘Street Children’ of Lebanon
• US-Iraqi forces free 70 captives facing IS 'mass execution'
• 'Degrading' Czech migrant camps spark outrage
• Obama vetoes $612 billion defense bill in rebuke to GOP
• Germany foils anti-migrant arson plot as hostility mounts
• Iraq set for cholera vaccine campaign amid fear of international spread: WHO
• Students witness scenes of horror in Swedish sword attack
• Combatting ISIS: 70 prisoners rescued from 'impending mass execution'
• Putin accuses West of playing 'double game' with Syria terrorist groups
• Canada mourns terror attack dead, one year on
• Suicide bomber kills at least 11 at Shiite mosque in SW Pakistan
• After Assad audience, Russia eyes seizing diplomatic initiative on Syria
• U.S commando killed in raid to free hostages of ISIS in Iraq
• U.S. says Russia strikes in Syria bolster Islamic State militants
• If Kremlin doesn't fight Islamists in Syria, will it have to in Russia?
• Five charged over Boko Haram Abuja bombings
• US-led forces strike IS-controlled oil field in Syria
• Iraq rescue was 'unique' situation, not change in tactics: Pentagon
• Russia's Putin says no plans to extend air strikes to Iraq
• Hostages rescued by U.S. special forces were all Arabs: U.S. official
• Bombing at mosque in Pakistan kills 10 on eve of Shi'ite holy day
• IRAQ HAWIJAH
• Cyprus, Britain in brewing spat over migrants at RAF base
• Soaring asylum numbers force Sweden to cut costs, borrow more
• UN slams Czechs for 'degrading' detention of migrants
• German police: Neo-Nazis planned attack on refugee shelter
• No Kurds among hostages rescued in U.S. special forces raid in Iraq
• Russia says hits Islamic State supply route from Iraq to Syria
• 17 European nations sign terror prevention pact in Latvia
• Why Europe's tough migrant trail is still so busy
• Arson attacks at asylum homes raise fears in tolerant Sweden
• Putin's high-stakes Syria gamble -- with or without Assad
• Pentagon confirms 70 hostages freed in Iraq rescue mission
• Iraq rescue mission launched after word on imminent execution: Pentagon
• Gunmen sabotaging Aegean migrant boats: HRW
• Relatives bury seven members of Lebanese family killed trying to reach Greece
• US serviceman killed rescuing hostages from IS in Iraq: US official    
• Bahrain's Shi'ite clerics criticize removal of Ashura flags
• US defense official: Rescue mission in northern Iraq frees Kurdish hostages; 1 US fatality

Pentagon: American killed in raid to free Iraqis held by IS Posted: 22 Oct 2015 04:57 PM PDT IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Acting on word of an "imminent mass execution" by Islamic State militants, dozens of U.S. special operations troops and Iraqi forces raided a northern Iraqi compound Thursday, freeing approximately 70 Iraqi prisoners in an operation that saw the first American killed in combat in the country since the U.S. campaign against IS began in 2014, officials said.

Scores of Syrian Kids Are Now the ‘Street Children’ of Lebanon Posted: 22 Oct 2015 03:04 PM PDT The high levels of displacement have thrust scores of Syrians into homelessness and poverty, forcing many children to forgo school so they can work to help keep their families afloat. In Lebanon, the number of so-called "street and working children" in the country has swelled by 25 percent after absorbing around 1 million refugees, according to the International Rescue Committee. Since 2014, the organization has been on the ground in Beirut and Mt. Lebanon, the capital, engaging the children in psychosocial activities that teach self expression, communication skills, the difference between good and bad touches, and how to manage their emotions.

US-Iraqi forces free 70 captives facing IS 'mass execution' Posted: 22 Oct 2015 02:28 PM PDT Kurdish and US forces stormed an Islamic State prison in northern Iraq on Thursday, freeing some 70 captives who were facing imminent execution, the Pentagon said. A US serviceman died of wounds sustained in the pre-dawn operation, the first to be killed in action since the US-led campaign against IS began in Iraq in June 2014. Five IS militants were captured and several others killed in the raid on a compound near Hawijah, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said.

'Degrading' Czech migrant camps spark outrage Posted: 22 Oct 2015 02:23 PM PDT The United Nations on Thursday accused the Czech Republic of systematic abuses of migrants, detaining them in "degrading" conditions as part of what the UN called a policy to dissuade them from entering Czech territory. "The fact that hundreds of children have passed through this facility runs counter to our idea of the Czech Republic as a civilised country," Sabatova said after visiting a centre in Bela-Jezova, northeast of Prague. "We'll be glad to show them all our detention centres... I think they'll find out the Czech Republic offers standard, decent, reasonable conditions for the accommodation of refugees," he said.

Obama vetoes $612 billion defense bill in rebuke to GOP Posted: 22 Oct 2015 02:11 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama vetoed a sweeping $612 billion defense policy bill Wednesday in a rebuke to congressional Republicans, and insisted they send him a better version that doesn't tie his hands on some of his top priorities.

Germany foils anti-migrant arson plot as hostility mounts Posted: 22 Oct 2015 02:01 PM PDT German officials said Thursday they had foiled an extremist plot to torch migrant shelters, adding to concerns over rising attacks on refugees in Europe as migrant arrivals hit new records. Police in the southern German town of Bamberg arrested 13 members of a far-right movement suspected of planning to set fire to two homes for asylum seekers, prosecutors said. As hostility towards the migrants and refugees streaming into Europe grows, reports emerged of fresh assaults on boats carrying migrants from Turkey to Greece in the Aegan Sea.

Iraq set for cholera vaccine campaign amid fear of international spread: WHO Posted: 22 Oct 2015 01:46 PM PDT Iraq plans to hold a mass vaccination campaign to halt a cholera outbreak that has infected more than 1,800 people amid fears it could spread among refugees in the region and beyond, the World Health Organization said Thursday. "We are going to start a vaccination campaign to try to prevent a further spread of the disease," Dominique Legros, head of WHO's cholera unit, told reporters. Iraq has confirmed 1,811 cases of the acute diarrhoeal disease since early September across 15 of the country's 18 governorates, including most recently in the northern autonomous Kurdish region.

Students witness scenes of horror in Swedish sword attack Posted: 22 Oct 2015 01:34 PM PDT Trollhättan (Sweden) (AFP) - Children in the Swedish town of Trollhattan witnessed scenes of horror Thursday as a masked attacker wielded a bloodied sword in their school, cutting down students and teachers as they crouched behind desks in darkened classrooms. Fourteen-year-old student David Issa saw the 21-year-old assailant, who was shot by police and later died in hospital, slay his teacher. "We were sitting in the (school's) cafe and then this guy came up who was wearing a mask and carrying a sword and he stabbed my teacher.

Combatting ISIS: 70 prisoners rescued from 'impending mass execution' Posted: 22 Oct 2015 01:27 PM PDT Dozens of US and Iraqi peshmerga forces descended on the compound after receiving intelligence suggesting that prisoners faced "imminent mass execution," according to the Pentagon. In addition to rescuing dozen of prisoners, the raiding forces captured or killed several militants and obtained vital information about the Islamic State. One American soldier was killed during the raid, the first US serviceman to die in Iraq since the United States ceased combat operations in 2011. The Pentagon has labeled the operation a training mission, saying the US special operation forces participated in a support capacity at the request of the Kurdish Regional Government, according to a written statement from Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook.

Putin accuses West of playing 'double game' with Syria terrorist groups Posted: 22 Oct 2015 01:14 PM PDT Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday accused the West of playing a "double game" with terrorist groups in Syria, where both Moscow and a US-led coalition are conducting separate bombing campaigns. "It's always difficult to play a double game: declaring a fight against terrorists while simultaneously trying to use some of them to arrange the pieces on the Middle East chess board in one's own interests," Putin said at a meeting of political scientists in Sochi known as the Valdai Club. "It is impossible to prevail over terrorism if some of the terrorists are being used as a battering ram to overthrow undesirable regimes," Putin said.

Canada mourns terror attack dead, one year on Posted: 22 Oct 2015 01:11 PM PDT Canadians gathered Thursday at the national war memorial in solemn remembrance of an honor guard shot dead a year ago by an Islamist gunman who went on to storm parliament, and another soldier killed in rural Quebec. Prime Minister Stephen Harper was joined by prime minister-elect Justin Trudeau in laying a wreath in the latter's first official public appearance since Monday's legislative elections swept his Liberals into power. "We will not allow threats to shape us, nor bow to those who mean to undermine our values and way of life," Trudeau said in a statement.

Suicide bomber kills at least 11 at Shiite mosque in SW Pakistan Posted: 22 Oct 2015 12:43 PM PDT A suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque killing at least 11 Shiite minority Muslims, including six children, and wounded at least a dozen others in a remote southwestern Pakistani town on Thursday, officials said. The attack took place as Shiites gathered at the mosque to observe the holy month of Moharram in the town of Chalgari in restive Baluchistan, some 170 kilometres (105 miles) southeast of the provincial capital, Quetta. "At least 10 people were killed and 12 others were wounded after a suicide bomber blew himself up at a Shiite mosque," provincial home minister Sarfraz Bugti told AFP.

After Assad audience, Russia eyes seizing diplomatic initiative on Syria Posted: 22 Oct 2015 12:41 PM PDT By Andrew Osborn and Christian Lowe MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin believes it has taught Washington an object lesson in how to take on Islamist militants in Syria. Basking in the afterglow of Bashar al-Assad's surprise visit to Moscow this week, it now believes it could lead the way diplomatically too. Russia's actions over Syria, from its decision to launch air strikes to the red carpet welcome it afforded Assad, have irked the White House, which does not want to be seen giving President Vladimir Putin a get out of jail card over the Ukraine crisis.

U.S commando killed in raid to free hostages of ISIS in Iraq Posted: 22 Oct 2015 12:27 PM PDT By Phil Stewart and Isabel Coles WASHINGTON/ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - One member of a U.S. special operations force was killed during an overnight mission to rescue hostages held by Islamic State militants in northern Iraq, the first American to die in ground combat with the militant group, U.S. officials said on Thursday. Sixty-nine hostages were rescued in the action, which targeted an Islamic State prison around 7 kilometers north of the town of Hawija, according to the security council of the Kurdistan region, whose counterterrorism forces took part. Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said at a news briefing the operation did not mark a change in U.S. tactics in the war on Islamic State militants, who pose the biggest security threat to Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

U.S. says Russia strikes in Syria bolster Islamic State militants Posted: 22 Oct 2015 12:25 PM PDT By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States blasted Russia's military strikes in Syria on Thursday, saying they were strengthening Islamic State militants, killing dozens of civilians, forcing tens of thousands more from their homes, and destroying schools and markets. During a United Nations Security Council meeting on the Middle East, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power referred to a Reuters analysis of Russian Defense Ministry data that found almost 80 percent of Russia's declared targets in Syria have been in areas not held by Islamic State.

If Kremlin doesn't fight Islamists in Syria, will it have to in Russia? Posted: 22 Oct 2015 12:22 PM PDT Meeting with embattled Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in the Kremlin Tuesday, Vladimir Putin offered a rationale for Russian intervention in Syria that will be familiar to generations of Americans, whose leaders launched overseas wars from Vietnam to Iraq and, well, Syria: It's better to fight them over there today, than in our own cities tomorrow. For Russia, with 12 percent, mostly Sunni, Muslim population – much of it concentrated in the already turbulent north Caucasus region – it's not a far-fetched fear. Recommended: Sochi, Soviets, and tsars: How much do you know about Russia?

Five charged over Boko Haram Abuja bombings Posted: 22 Oct 2015 12:05 PM PDT Five men were remanded in custody when they appeared in court on Thursday in connection with bomb attacks on the outskirts of Nigeria's capital, Abuja, that killed 18 people. The case, at the Federal High Court in Abuja, was adjourned until a further hearing on November 17. Boko Haram -- under the name Islamic State in West Africa Province -- claimed responsibility for the attacks on the commuter towns of Nyanya and Kuje on October 2, which killed 18 and left 41 injured.

US-led forces strike IS-controlled oil field in Syria Posted: 22 Oct 2015 11:51 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq and Syria carried out a large-scale attack on Syria's Omar oil field as part of its mission to target the Islamic State group's ability to generate money, a coalition spokesman said Thursday.

Iraq rescue was 'unique' situation, not change in tactics: Pentagon Posted: 22 Oct 2015 11:25 AM PDT The U.S.-backed hostage rescue mission in Iraq that freed some 70 Islamic State prisoners but left one U.S. special forces trooper dead was a "unique circumstance," not a change in U.S. tactics in the war, the Pentagon said on Thursday. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told a briefing that Defense Secretary Ash Carter approved U.S. involvement in the operation based on the authorities he had in the current conflict and notified White House national security officials before it took place.

Russia's Putin says no plans to extend air strikes to Iraq Posted: 22 Oct 2015 11:20 AM PDT SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - Iraq's government has not asked Russia's military to combat Islamic State militants on Iraqi territory, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. Speaking at a forum in the Russian city of Sochi, Putin said he had no plans to extend the scope of Russian air strikes beyond Syria. (Reporting by Denis Dyomkin; Editing by Christian Lowe)

Hostages rescued by U.S. special forces were all Arabs: U.S. official Posted: 22 Oct 2015 10:41 AM PDT The hostages rescued in a raid by U.S. special forces and Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces in northern Iraq were all Arabs, including local residents and Islamic State fighters held as suspected spies, a U.S. official said on Thursday. The official told Reuters that around 20 of the hostages were members of Iraqi security forces. "Some of the remainder were Daesh (Islamic State)... fighters that Daesh thought were spies," the official said.

Bombing at mosque in Pakistan kills 10 on eve of Shi'ite holy day Posted: 22 Oct 2015 10:21 AM PDT By Gul Yousufzai QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - A suicide bombing at a Shi'ite Muslim mosque killed at least 10 people in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan on Thursday, officials said, raising fears of more sectarian attacks during the upcoming Shi'ite holiday of Ashura. Fears of violence have been heightened this year after Taliban splinter groups pledged allegiance to the Syria- and Iraq-based Islamic State, a Sunni militant group that has repeatedly targeted Shi'ites. Analysts say Pakistani groups hoping for patronage want to impress Islamic State.

IRAQ HAWIJAH Posted: 22 Oct 2015 10:05 AM PDT Map locates Hawijah in Iraq where a U.S. service member was wounded and later died.; 1c x 3 inches; 46.5 mm x 76 mm;

Cyprus, Britain in brewing spat over migrants at RAF base Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:52 AM PDT NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — More than 100 asylum seekers, whose rickety fishing boats landed at a British air base on Cyprus' southern coast, are embroiling the east Mediterranean island in a political tussle with its former colonial ruler Britain.

Soaring asylum numbers force Sweden to cut costs, borrow more Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:39 AM PDT By Daniel Dickson and Johan Ahlander STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden will make across-the-board spending cuts and raise borrowing to cope with as many as 190,000 refugees fleeing war in countries such as Syria and Iraq this year, the government said on Thursday. The Migration Agency more than doubled its forecast for asylum seekers and said it needed an extra 70 billion Swedish crowns ($8.41 billion) over the coming two years. Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson said asylum costs were unsustainable in the longer term and called on other European countries to do more to share the burden.

UN slams Czechs for 'degrading' detention of migrants Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:35 AM PDT Several European countries have in recent months introduced measures to curb the flow of tens of thousands of refugees and migrants on the move across the continent. "According to credible reports from various sources, the violations of the human rights of migrants are neither isolated nor coincidental, but systematic," he said in a statement, voicing particular concern over the violations of the rights of the children. More than 600,000 migrants and refugees, mainly fleeing violence in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, have braved the dangerous journey to Europe so far this year, according to UN numbers.

German police: Neo-Nazis planned attack on refugee shelter Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:21 AM PDT BERLIN (AP) — German police have foiled a far-right plot to attack refugee shelters in Bavaria amid growing violence against migrants, authorities said Thursday.

No Kurds among hostages rescued in U.S. special forces raid in Iraq Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:13 AM PDT ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - The Kurdistan region's security council said on Thursday an initial evaluation showed there were no Kurds among 69 hostages freed in a U.S. special forces raid in northern Iraq. More than 20 Islamic State militants were killed and six detained during the raid early on Thursday in which Kurdish counter-terrorism forces took part. (Reporting by Isabel Coles; Editing by Michael Georgy/Mark Heinrich)

Russia says hits Islamic State supply route from Iraq to Syria Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:10 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's military carried out an air strike on a bridge over the Euphrates river in Syria which was being used by Islamic State militants to bring supplies from Iraq into Syria, Russia's RIA news agency quoted a defense ministry official as saying. The official, Colonel-General Andrei Kartapolov, said the bridge was now impassable, the agency reported. (Reporting by Polina Devitt; Editing by Christian Lowe)

17 European nations sign terror prevention pact in Latvia Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:08 AM PDT TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Leading European nations have signed an agreement to advance the fight against terrorism with tough measures aimed at halting the exodus of young Europeans to fight for the Islamic State and other extremist groups.

Why Europe's tough migrant trail is still so busy Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:04 AM PDT Thousands of people are still making the difficult journey across Europe every day despite the approach of winter, taking huge risks to flee war and poverty in the continent's worst migrant crisis since World War II. Migration has been a challenge for Europe for years but the current wave has been sparked by the escalation of the Syrian civil war, which has claimed 250,000 lives and created four million refugees since it broke out in 2011. The burden has so far fallen mainly on Syria's neighbours Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey who have taken in the largest number of refugees, with Turkey hosting more than 2.2 million of them.

Arson attacks at asylum homes raise fears in tolerant Sweden Posted: 22 Oct 2015 08:54 AM PDT BURLOV, Sweden (AP) — The teenage refugees had a new home in the newly built asylum center in southern Sweden. Hours before moving in, flames broke out in the wooden barracks.

Putin's high-stakes Syria gamble -- with or without Assad Posted: 22 Oct 2015 08:45 AM PDT This week's surprise Moscow summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad was perhaps one of the most sensitive meetings the Kremlin walls have seen in recent times. At stake was the future of the Syrian conflict -- and also Russia's place on the world stage as Putin seeks to muscle his way back to global influence after months of Western isolation over Ukraine. Assad's visit -- and Moscow's diplomatic flurry in its aftermath -- might have confirmed the scale of Putin's ambitions and his willingness to support his ally, but analysts say the Kremlin is not wedded to keeping the Syrian strongman in power indefinitely.

Pentagon confirms 70 hostages freed in Iraq rescue mission Posted: 22 Oct 2015 08:44 AM PDT Washington (AFP) - A US-backed rescue operation freed 70 hostages from an Islamic State prison in Iraq and captured five militants, the Pentagon said Thursday, confirming that a US service member was killed.

Iraq rescue mission launched after word on imminent execution: Pentagon Posted: 22 Oct 2015 08:25 AM PDT The overnight U.S. hostage rescue operation in northern Iraq was launched "after receiving information that the hostages faced imminent mass execution" by Islamic State militants, a Pentagon spokesman said on Thursday. Five Islamic State members were detained and "a number" were killed in the operation that freed about 70 hostages, including more than 20 members of Iraqi security forces, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement.

Gunmen sabotaging Aegean migrant boats: HRW Posted: 22 Oct 2015 08:13 AM PDT Unidentified gunmen have staged a series of new sabotage attacks on boats carrying migrants cross the Aegean Sea, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday. Quoting witnesses, the New York-based rights group said there had been eight incidents in which gunmen "intercepted and disabled the boats carrying asylum seekers and migrants from Turkey toward the Greek islands". "At first when they approached, we thought they had come to help us," he told HRW.

Relatives bury seven members of Lebanese family killed trying to reach Greece Posted: 22 Oct 2015 07:52 AM PDT By Laila Bassam BEIRUT (Reuters) - Seven members of a Lebanese family who died trying to reach Greece by boat were buried on Thursday in Beirut and survivors described watching their loved ones perish before their eyes. Members of the Safwan family said the dead, who included a pregnant woman and two children, had left poor living conditions in Lebanon to seek a better life in Europe, like hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing war in Syria.

US serviceman killed rescuing hostages from IS in Iraq: US official     Posted: 22 Oct 2015 07:40 AM PDT Washington (AFP) - A US serviceman has been killed in an operation to rescue hostages from Islamic State militants in Iraq, a US official told AFP Thursday.

Bahrain's Shi'ite clerics criticize removal of Ashura flags Posted: 22 Oct 2015 07:23 AM PDT Senior Shi'ite Bahraini clerics criticized the removal of Ashura banners raised to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Prophet Mohammad's grandson, saying the move amounted to an infringement on a tradition dating back hundreds of years. The complaint highlights concerns by Bahrain's large Shi'ite community over religious freedom in the U.S.-allied Gulf Arab state, which is trying to overcome tensions that began with mass protests for reforms in 2011. Sunni-ruled Bahrain, home of the U.S. Fifth Fleet, denies accusations by Shi'ites that they face discrimination in seeking jobs and government services.

US defense official: Rescue mission in northern Iraq frees Kurdish hostages; 1 US fatality Posted: 22 Oct 2015 07:17 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — US defense official: Rescue mission in northern Iraq frees Kurdish hostages; 1 US fatality.

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