Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• 3 in NY, Florida accused of plot to join Islamic State group
• Experts: Insanity case as in 'American Sniper' hard to win
• New Yorkers charged over IS extremist plot
• Islamic State in Syria abducts at least 150 Christians
• US charges three men with conspiring to support Islamic State
• 2 appear in NY court on charges they sought to join IS group
• U.S. charges three with conspiring to support Islamic State
• US, Iran have 'mutual interest' in defeating IS: Kerry
• Envoy: Coalition airstrikes have blunted IS momentum in Iraq
• As White House, Netanyahu spar over speech to Congress, the gloves come off
• Who are the Assyrian Christians under attack from Islamic State?
• 'American Sniper': Chris Kyle's Widow at Center of Quiet Furor Over Profits
• U.S. Treasury presses Qatar on terror finance
• Crunch time for Rand Paul at U.S. conservative event
• Kerry questions Netanyahu's judgment as U.S.-Israel row deepens
• Firing squads, blast walls and dangerous diplomacy in Somalia
• ‘American Sniper’ guilty verdict draws brisk, blunt reactions from Texans
• Christians flee jihadists after Syria kidnappings
• More moderate Syrians ready to battle Islamic State than expected: U.S. official
• Muslim forum on 'terrorism' seeks education reform
• Syrian Kurds cut IS supply line near Iraq; fears for Christians mount
• Austria passes 'Law on Islam' banning foreign money for Muslim groups
• Austria passes law on Islam, banning foreign funding
• EU prosecutor: Close 'prosecution gaps' for terror cases
• Australian militant fighting Islamic State killed in Syria: sources
• Netanyahu speech to Congress 'destructive' to US ties: Rice
• French planes on Gulf-based carrier make first strikes
• Australian fighting with Kurds against IS killed in Syria: monitor
• Former Al-Qaeda double agent says Muslims must fight extremism
• Abducted Syrian Christians moved to militant stronghold
• US Embassy warns of threat to malls in Jordan's capital
• Islamic State territory: Easy to slip in, harder to get out
• 'American Sniper' trial: Why US juries have little patience for insanity plea
• The American Sniper Guilty Verdict
• France plans broader dialogue with its large Muslim minority
• Fake US aircraft carrier the target in latest Iranian drills
• Iran stages military exercises in Strait of Hormuz
• Anti-IS mission puts hardened French pilot on new flight path
• Islamic State seize 100 Iraqi tribesmen before battle for Tikrit
• Islamic State may have abducted 150 Christians in Syria, activists say

3 in NY, Florida accused of plot to join Islamic State group Posted: 25 Feb 2015 04:50 PM PST NEW YORK (AP) — Three men were arrested Wednesday on charges of plotting to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State group and wage war against the United States, and federal officials said one of them spoke of shooting President Barack Obama or planting a bomb on Coney Island.

Experts: Insanity case as in 'American Sniper' hard to win Posted: 25 Feb 2015 04:47 PM PST STEPHENVILLE, Texas (AP) — The former Marine convicted of killing "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle and another man was hospitalized multiple times for psychiatric treatment and was prescribed medication to treat schizophrenia. He spoke of pig-human hybrids and the apocalypse and was described by Kyle himself as "straight-up nuts."

New Yorkers charged over IS extremist plot Posted: 25 Feb 2015 04:47 PM PST Two New York Muslims were hauled before a federal court Wednesday charged with plotting to join Islamic State extremists in Syria and threatening to carry out attacks in the United States. FBI agents arrested Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19, at John F. Kennedy airport allegedly attempting to board a flight to Istanbul and Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, 24 -- who had offered to kill President Barack Obama -- was detained at home in Brooklyn.

Islamic State in Syria abducts at least 150 Christians Posted: 25 Feb 2015 04:05 PM PST By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - Islamic State militants have abducted at least 150 people from Assyrian Christian villages in northeastern Syria they had raided, Christian Syrian activists said on Tuesday. A Syrian Christian group representing several NGOs inside and outside the country said it had verified at least 150 people missing, including women and the elderly, who had been kidnapped by the militants. "We have verified at least 150 people who have been adducted from sources on the ground," Bassam Ishak, president of the Syriac National Council of Syria, whose family itself is from Hasaka, told Reuters from Amman. Earlier the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 90 were abducted when the militants carried out dawn raids on rural villages inhabited by the ancient Christian minority west of Hasaka, a city mainly held by the Kurds.

US charges three men with conspiring to support Islamic State Posted: 25 Feb 2015 04:01 PM PST Three men from former Soviet Central Asian republics were arrested in the United States on Wednesday and charged with conspiring to support the Islamic State, also known as IS or ISIL. Two of the men were planning to travel to Syria, authorities say. "The flow of foreign fighters to Syria represents an evolving threat to our country and to our allies," said Loretta Lynch, US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in a statement. "We will vigorously prosecute those who attempt to travel to Syria to wage violent jihad on behalf of ISIL and those who support them.

2 appear in NY court on charges they sought to join IS group Posted: 25 Feb 2015 03:59 PM PST NEW YORK (AP) — Three men were arrested Wednesday on charges of plotting to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State group and wage war against the U.S., and federal officials said one of them spoke of shooting President Barack Obama or planting a bomb on Coney Island.

U.S. charges three with conspiring to support Islamic State Posted: 25 Feb 2015 03:31 PM PST By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - Three men were charged on Wednesday with conspiring to support Islamic State, including two who planned to travel to Syria to fight on behalf of the radical group, U.S. authorities said. One of the men, Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19, of Kazakhstan, was arrested on Wednesday at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, where authorities said he was attempting to board a flight to Turkey on his way to Syria. Another defendant, Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, 24, of Uzbekistan, previously purchased a ticket for a March flight to Istanbul, said Loretta Lynch, U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn. Abror Habibov, 30, of Uzbekistan, was accused of funding Saidakhmetov's efforts.

US, Iran have 'mutual interest' in defeating IS: Kerry Posted: 25 Feb 2015 03:12 PM PST The United States and Iran have a "mutual interest" in defeating the Islamic State group but the long-time foes are not cooperating to do so, Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday. "They are totally opposed to ISIL and they are in fact taking on and fighting and eliminating ISIL members along the Iraqi border near Iran and have serious concerns about what that would do to the region," Kerry told lawmakers, referring to IS by another acronym.

Envoy: Coalition airstrikes have blunted IS momentum in Iraq Posted: 25 Feb 2015 03:00 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. envoy for the international coalition fighting the Islamic State militants says thousands of airstrikes have blunted the militants' tactical momentum in Iraq.

As White House, Netanyahu spar over speech to Congress, the gloves come off Posted: 25 Feb 2015 02:37 PM PST Reporters are scrambling for the thesaurus to find new ways to describe the deteriorating relationship between the Obama White House and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government over negotiations to curtail Iran's nuclear program. Whatever word you reach for, the animosity has reached rare, almost unprecedented levels a little more than a week before Mr. Netanyahu is scheduled to address Congress. He's coming – at the invitation of Republican lawmakers and over the objections of the White House – to make his case that the United States and other world-powers should not reach a nuclear agreement with Iran that would give the Islamic Republic some sanctions relief in exchange for curtailing its nuclear research. Netanyahu and his ambassador to the US, Ron Dermer, a former Republican Party operative, appear to have decided that alienating a large swathe of the Democrats – he's declined to meet privately with Democratic senators during his trip – is a price worth paying if it can head off a deal with Iran that, though not yet completed, he has already decided is a bad one for Israel.

Who are the Assyrian Christians under attack from Islamic State? Posted: 25 Feb 2015 02:27 PM PST For Assyrian Christians in present-day Syria and Iraq, religious persecution has been a constant for much of their modern history. The world was reminded of that stark reality Tuesday morning, when Islamic State militants reportedly captured dozens of Assyrians – estimates range from 70 to 150 – living in villages along the Khabur River in northeastern Syria. So who are the Assyrians? Alternatively known as Syriac, Nestorian, or Chaldean Christians, they trace their roots back more than 6,500 years to ancient Mesopotamia, predating the Abrahamic religions.

'American Sniper': Chris Kyle's Widow at Center of Quiet Furor Over Profits Posted: 25 Feb 2015 01:53 PM PST Taya Kyle, wife of the film's hero, hasn't paid two families of soldiers her late husband promised to support as her share of proceeds tops $6 million. Does she owe them? Legal experts say no, but "moral obligation is a whole other story."

U.S. Treasury presses Qatar on terror finance Posted: 25 Feb 2015 01:30 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew met with the emir of Qatar and emphasized the importance of fighting "terror financing," amid suspicions that money from one of the key U.S. Middle East allies had gone to violent extremists in the region. "(Secretary Lew) ... emphasized the vital importance of combating the financing of terrorism," Treasury said in a statement. "(Lew) expressed his hope that in the coming months ... the two nations can continue to work together to take effective, lasting action to disrupt the activities of terrorist financiers. ...

Crunch time for Rand Paul at U.S. conservative event Posted: 25 Feb 2015 01:27 PM PST By Steve Holland and Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With Republican rivals like Scott Walker and Jeb Bush off to a strong start in the 2016 U.S. presidential race, Rand Paul will seek his own breakout moment at an annual gathering where hopefuls go to burnish their conservative credentials. Of all the potential candidates speaking at the meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference, the Kentucky senator should feel most at home. The 52-year-old Paul, famous for his non-interventionist approach to world affairs, could find himself at odds with a growing hawkishness among other Republican hopefuls mustering support with their calls for more aggressive action against Russia and Islamic State militants. "He's got a challenge to overcome," said Al Cardenas, former chairman of the American Conservative Union which organizes the event known by its acronym, CPAC.

Kerry questions Netanyahu's judgment as U.S.-Israel row deepens Posted: 25 Feb 2015 12:39 PM PST By Arshad Mohammed and Allyn Fisher-Ilan WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. officials on Wednesday questioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judgment and said his outspoken condemnation of efforts to secure an Iranian nuclear deal had injected destructive partisanship into U.S.-Israeli relations. In an escalation of hostile exchanges between the allies six days before Netanyahu gives a speech to Congress on the threat from Iran, the Israeli leader accused world powers of abandoning a pledge to prevent Tehran from getting a nuclear bomb. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, engaged in international talks with Tehran on its nuclear program, said Netanyahu may be wrong. Kerry told a congressional hearing: "He may have a judgment that just may not be correct here." Kerry advised waiting to hear what Netanyahu had to say in Tuesday's speech.

Firing squads, blast walls and dangerous diplomacy in Somalia Posted: 25 Feb 2015 12:36 PM PST A navy flak jacket over his sky-blue shirt, Neil Wigan peered through the bulletproof glass window at six uneven wooden poles in front of a sand dune. "There are more of them now," the British ambassador to Somalia said, driving past the execution posts that convicts are tied to before being shot by firing squad. Violence is routine in Somalia, whether perpetrated by suicide bombers, jihadists, assassins, soldiers or the judiciary. Wigan, 44, is Britain's first resident ambassador to the Horn of Africa country since it collapsed in a hail of gun and rocket fire in 1991.

‘American Sniper’ guilty verdict draws brisk, blunt reactions from Texans Posted: 25 Feb 2015 12:25 PM PST STEPHENVILLE, Texas — The "American Sniper" murder trial was closely followed in this rural town, but also drew international attention in part because of the Oscar-winning blockbuster film based on Chris Kyle's memoir of his four tours in Iraq. Late Tuesday, a jury took a little more than two hours to find an ex-Marine guilty of gunning down Kyle and his friend, Chad Littlefield, two years ago. "Most people around here, if you talk to them, would say that they think he's guilty," Lana Karlberg said.

Christians flee jihadists after Syria kidnappings Posted: 25 Feb 2015 12:15 PM PST The kidnapping of dozens of Assyrian Christians by the Islamic State group in Syria has prompted hundreds of terrified families to flee their homes, activists said Wednesday. The United States condemned the mass abduction of Christians -- the first of its kind in the war-torn country -- and demanded the release of the 90 hostages. Nearly 1,000 families have fled their villages in the northeastern province of Hasakeh since Monday's kidnappings, said Osama Edward, director of the Sweden-based Assyrian Human Rights Network. About 800 of them have taken refuge in the city of Hasakeh and 150 in Qamishli, a Kurdish city on the Turkish border, Edward said, adding that the number of displaced people came to about 5,000.

More moderate Syrians ready to battle Islamic State than expected: U.S. official Posted: 25 Feb 2015 12:13 PM PST Moderate Syrian fighters in greater numbers than U.S. officials had expected are stepping forward to battle Islamic State militants, the White House's special envoy for the campaign against the group said on Wednesday. We've had an encouraging sense that there is an interest in this," retired General John Allen, President Barack Obama's envoy to the anti-IS coalition, told a U.S. Senate committee. U.S. officials have said they plan to train about 5,000 Syrian fighters per year for three years at sites outside Syria as part of the campaign to stop Islamic State, which has seized swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria. Allen testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as lawmakers began considering Obama's request for a formal three-year authorization for the campaign against IS.

Muslim forum on 'terrorism' seeks education reform Posted: 25 Feb 2015 12:00 PM PST A counter-terrorism conference attended by senior Muslim scholars from around the world on Wednesday called for education reform to tackle religious extremism. The recommendation came in a communique after the three-day conference organised by the Mecca-based Muslim World League, a group of non-government organisations. "The fight against terrorism and religious extremism does not conflict with Islam," the statement said. The call comes as Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations battle Islamic State (IS) group jihadists who have seized swathes of Iraq and Syria.

Syrian Kurds cut IS supply line near Iraq; fears for Christians mount Posted: 25 Feb 2015 11:53 AM PST By Tom Perry and Suleiman Al-Khalidi BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) - Kurdish militia pressed an offensive against Islamic State in northeast Syria on Wednesday, cutting one of its supply lines from Iraq, as fears mounted for dozens of Christians abducted by the hardline group. At least 90 Assyrian Christians were seized from villages in Hasaka province in a mass abduction coinciding with the offensive in the same region by Kurdish forces backed by U.S.-led air strikes, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the conflict. The Syriac National Council of Syria put the figure as high as 150. Hundreds more Christians have fled to the two main cities in Hasaka province, according to the Syriac council and the Observatory.

Austria passes 'Law on Islam' banning foreign money for Muslim groups Posted: 25 Feb 2015 11:45 AM PST By Shadia Nasralla VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria's parliament passed a law on Wednesday that seeks to regulate how Islam is administered, singling out its large Muslim minority for treatment not applied to any other religious group. The "Law on Islam" bans foreign funding for Islamic organizations and requires any group claiming to represent Austrian Muslims to submit and use a standardized German translation of the Koran. The law met with little opposition from the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic population, was backed by Austria's Catholic bishops, and was grudgingly accepted by the main Muslim organization. "We want an Islam of the Austrian kind, and not one that is dominated by other countries," said Sebastian Kurz, the 28-year-old conservative foreign minister - formally the minister for foreign affairs and integration - who is easily Austria's most popular politician.

Austria passes law on Islam, banning foreign funding Posted: 25 Feb 2015 11:44 AM PST Austria's parliament on Wednesday passed a law banning foreign sources of financing to Muslim organisations and requiring imams to be able to speak German, in a move closely watched by other European nations facing growing problems with radical Islam. The new law aims to promote what conservative Integration Minister Sebastian Kurz calls an "Islam of European character" by muting the influence of foreign Muslim nations, organisations and funding at a time when concerns are rising about the spread of extremist Islam. Turkey's leading Muslim cleric, Mehmet Gormez, has decried the bill as "a 100-year regression," arguing that no complaints have ever been lodged about the fact that Turkey funds many imams in Austria. Austria's far-right Freedom Party, meantime, mocked the bill as a "placebo" at a time when estimates suggest around 200 people from Austria -- including women and minors -- have gone to Syria and Iraq to join jihadist militias like Islamic Front.

EU prosecutor: Close 'prosecution gaps' for terror cases Posted: 25 Feb 2015 11:42 AM PST THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The European Union's top criminal prosecutor is calling on member countries to update and harmonize anti-terrorism laws to deal more effectively with the twin threats of European-born participants in Islamic jihad and solitary extremists.

Australian militant fighting Islamic State killed in Syria: sources Posted: 25 Feb 2015 11:17 AM PST An Australian man who joined Syria Kurdish militants to fight against Islamic State jihadists has been killed, a group which tracks the conflict and a Kurdish source said on Wednesday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the man died when Islamic State launched an assault on the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, the group the man was fighting for in northeastern Syria. Officials from the YPG refused to comment but a Kurdish source in northern Syria confirmed the news, asking not to be named. Several foreigners, including Europeans and Americans, have joined the YPG in its fight against Islamic State.

Netanyahu speech to Congress 'destructive' to US ties: Rice Posted: 25 Feb 2015 11:03 AM PST Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's acceptance of an invitation to address the US Congress, without the blessing of the White House, is destructive to US-Israeli ties, a senior official said Tuesday. The comments by National Security Advisor Susan Rice are some of the harshest yet amid a controversy over Republican House speaker John Boehner's invitation to the Israeli leader to address lawmakers, without following protocol and advising President Barack Obama first. Rice, in an interview Tuesday with journalist Charlie Rose on PBS, said US relations with Israel have always had bipartisan support. "What has happened over the last several weeks by virtue of the invitation that was issued by the Speaker and the acceptance of it by Prime Minister Netanyahu, two weeks in advance of his election, is that on both sides there has now been injected a degree of partisanship," Rice said.

French planes on Gulf-based carrier make first strikes Posted: 25 Feb 2015 10:55 AM PST French warplanes from an aircraft carrier in the Gulf carried out their first strikes Wednesday since the warship joined the fight against jihadists in Iraq this week. "We hit a training base for Daesh in the west of Iraq," said Marc Gander, communications advisor to Vice-Admiral Eric Chaperon, commander of the warship's battle group. He used an Arabic acronym to refer to the Islamic State jihadist group. French warplanes have formed part of the US-led coalition carrying out raids against IS jihadists in Iraq for several months.

Australian fighting with Kurds against IS killed in Syria: monitor Posted: 25 Feb 2015 10:42 AM PST An Australian who travelled to Syria to join Kurds battling jihadists has been killed, a monitor said Wednesday, adding he was the first Westerner to die fighting alongside the Kurds. "An Australian man was killed in an assault on Tuesday by the Islamic State against a position of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) near Tal Hamis in Hasakeh province," said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman. "Dozens of Westerners have joined the YPG's ranks. There are foreigners fighting on all sides of Syria's war," said Abdel Rahman.

Former Al-Qaeda double agent says Muslims must fight extremism Posted: 25 Feb 2015 10:22 AM PST A former jihadist who became an Al-Qaeda double agent says Muslims must do more to tackle extremism in their midst and that stopping lone wolf attacks is near-impossible. Morten Storm has seen deep inside the conflict between jihadists and Western intelligence services, having served both. Storm, 39, has emerged from his experiences with a strong conviction that Muslim communities need to be at the forefront of efforts to tackle radical Islam. He was speaking in Paris, where his book "Agent Storm: My Life Inside Al-Qaeda and the CIA" is about to be released in French.

Abducted Syrian Christians moved to militant stronghold Posted: 25 Feb 2015 09:53 AM PST BEIRUT (AP) — Islamic State militants have moved a large group of Christians they abducted to one of their strongholds as fighting raged on Wednesday between the extremists and Kurdish and Christian militiamen for control of a chain of villages along a strategic river in northeastern Syria, activists and state-run media said.

US Embassy warns of threat to malls in Jordan's capital Posted: 25 Feb 2015 09:44 AM PST AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — The U.S. Embassy in Jordan warned Wednesday of a potential threat of attacks against "high-end malls" in Jordan's capital, as the kingdom takes part in airstrikes targeting the extremist Islamic State group.

Islamic State territory: Easy to slip in, harder to get out Posted: 25 Feb 2015 09:02 AM PST Islamic State checkpoints have sprouted like mushrooms in its Syrian strongholds over the past month, residents say, as the militants clamp down on fighters' movements in a bid to halt a wave of defections. "There are long lines at checkpoints.

'American Sniper' trial: Why US juries have little patience for insanity plea Posted: 25 Feb 2015 08:53 AM PST Eddie Ray Routh's psychedelic recollections of the day he killed "American Sniper" Chris Kyle and his buddy Chad Littlefield, his defense argued, were the rantings of a man in the throes of a psychotic episode, so insane in the moment that he couldn't tell right from wrong – the Texas standard for a jury finding someone not guilty by reason of insanity. Jane Campbell Moriarty, editor of "Mental Illness in Criminal Trials," said in a Monitor interview last week that the US justice system has long struggled to incorporate new findings and frontiers in neurological science into understanding the nature of crime.

The American Sniper Guilty Verdict Posted: 25 Feb 2015 08:09 AM PST It took a jury less than three hours to deliver a guilty verdict in the case of Eddie Ray Routh, a 27-year-old former Marine, who shot and killed Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield two years ago this month. Defense lawyers had sought to convince jurors that Routh was schizophrenic, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, and was in the midst of a psychotic episode when he fatally opened fire on the two men at a Texas shooting range. The trial garnered national headlines in large part because it followed the release of the controversial Clint Eastwood blockbuster American Sniper, which was based on Chris Kyle's memoir about his four tours of duty in Iraq. The film, as the AFP noted, "has so far earned more than $320 million to become the highest grossing war film in history." One challenge for the defense came in the form of Texas' narrow standard for legal insanity.

France plans broader dialogue with its large Muslim minority Posted: 25 Feb 2015 07:46 AM PST By Tom Heneghan PARIS (Reuters) - France outlined plans for a broader dialogue with its Muslim minority on Wednesday after the faith's official council proved unable to deal with the challenges presented by Islamist radicalization. Attacks by French Islamists on the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and a kosher grocery in Paris last month, in which 17 people were killed, have been followed by a sharp rise in attacks on French mosques, putting Europe's largest Muslim minority in the spotlight. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the government would consult twice a year with a wide range of Muslim leaders, including not only the official French Muslim Council (CFCM) but also imams and intellectuals not represented in it, on problems facing the community. France would also promote university-level civics courses for imams, and require them for Islamic chaplains in prisons, hospitals and the armed forces, he said.

Fake US aircraft carrier the target in latest Iranian drills Posted: 25 Feb 2015 07:35 AM PST TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — With rockets roaring and guns blazing, more than a dozen swarming Iranian speedboats assaulted a replica of a U.S. aircraft carrier Wednesday during large-scale naval drills near the strategically vital entrance of the Persian Gulf.

Iran stages military exercises in Strait of Hormuz Posted: 25 Feb 2015 07:23 AM PST Iran's Revolutionary Guards began naval exercises Wednesday in the Strait of Hormuz, just a few hundred kilometres away from western vessels engaged in the fight against the Islamic State group. The three branches of the elite army of the Iranian regime are participating in the regular military exercises, dubbed "Great Prophet", off Qeshm Island. State television showed an attack by "high-precision missiles" fired from the coast, and a helicopter on a replica of an "American" aircraft carrier. The Revolutionary Guards are responsible for naval forces in the Gulf, mainly composed of hundreds of speedboats equipped with various types of short- and medium-range missiles as well as small submarines.

Anti-IS mission puts hardened French pilot on new flight path Posted: 25 Feb 2015 06:52 AM PST After flying missions over Afghanistan and Libya, French Rafale fighter pilot "Sharpy" now faces fresh challenges on his new assignment against the Islamic State jihadist group in Iraq. French warplanes have formed part of the US-led coalition carrying out raids against IS jihadists in Iraq for several months. As in Afghanistan, the enemy is extremely mobile and often elusive.

Islamic State seize 100 Iraqi tribesmen before battle for Tikrit Posted: 25 Feb 2015 06:34 AM PST By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Islamic State fighters have abducted 100 Sunni Muslim tribesmen near the city of Tikrit, local tribal leaders said on Wednesday, apparently to neutralize suspected opponents before a widely expected army offensive. Iraqi soldiers and pro-government Shi'ite militias have been massing for days in preparation for an attack on Islamic State strongholds along the Tigris River to the north and south of Tikrit, hometown of executed former president Saddam Hussein. Tikrit, about 150 km (95 miles) north of Baghdad, has been controlled by the Sunni Muslim radicals since they swept through northern Iraq in June, scattering Iraq's security forces.

Islamic State may have abducted 150 Christians in Syria, activists say Posted: 25 Feb 2015 05:49 AM PST Fierce fighting between Kurdish and Christian militias and Islamic State fighters continues. "We have verified at least 150 people who have been abducted from sources on the ground," Bassam Ishak, President of the Syriac National Council of Syria, a Syrian Christian group representing several NGO's inside and outside the country, told Reuters from Amman. A recent video by militants claiming allegiance to the Islamic State showed the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya, and the group's adherents have massacred other captives from religious minorities. The Islamic State has targeted religious minorities as it seeks to control territory.

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