Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Claims Australian teen was suicide bomber 'horrific': PM
• Noah Galloway Discusses 'Dancing With The Stars' Obstacles
• Iranians in Iraq battle 'concerning': Pentagon chief
• 'Dirty Brigades': US-Trained Iraqi Forces Investigated for War Crimes
• BARACK OBAMA: A MAN FOR THE AGES!
• Colonial Williamsburg may help guard Iraq relics imperiled by ISIS
• Rights group blames Syria government forces for majority of doctor deaths
• Senate Democrats oppose 'blank check' for Islamic State fight
• Anti-IS fighter faces charges in Switzerland
• Egypt investor meet to showcase Sisi's political clout
• 1 Black Hawk crashed in fog, killing 11; Another turned back
• Latest on military helicopter crash: More fog hampers search
• Islamic State ransacks Assyrian capital as Iraq appeals for help
• US general: US worries about Iran-backed militias in Iraq
• France identifies man, boy in IS killing video as citizens
• Dempsey: US worries about Iran-backed militias in Iraq
• Canada says foils plot to bomb Toronto financial district, U.S. consulate
• The nonmilitary victories in Iraq's battle of Tikrit
• Iraqi forces enter IS-held Tikrit after 10-day push
• Florida military helicopter crash shows perils of combat training
• Worry over what follows swift Iraq win in Tikrit: top U.S. general
• U.S.-led forces conduct 13 air strikes in Iraq, two in Syria - U.S.
• Iraqi forces push into Tikrit, bombers hit Ramadi
• U.S. backs U.N. resolution on Boko Haram regional force
• Q&A: US troop positions in Iraq keep them off front lines
• Iraqi forces, militias sweep into Islamic State-held Tikrit
• U.S. may be unable to defend its Syria recruits against Assad
• Child in Islamic State video may be linked to French gunman: source
• Iran parliament speaker in Qatar tries to allay Arab concern
• U.N. official calls China's crackdown on Uighurs 'disturbing'
• Michael Wolff on Andrew Lack: Why NBC's New (Old) Newsman Makes Sense
• Turkey shuts border crossings as fighting worsens around Syria's Aleppo
• British defence secretary dismisses U.S. concern about force cuts
• British defense secretary dismisses U.S. concern about force cuts
• Japan tourism site hit by pro-IS hackers
• Official: Man, boy in IS killing video are French citizens
• Kerry calls for US war powers to strike IS
• IRAQ
• Export of Iran's revolution enters 'new chapter': general
• A history of the Islamic State group amid Tikrit offensive

Claims Australian teen was suicide bomber 'horrific': PM Posted: 11 Mar 2015 04:46 PM PDT Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Thursday described claims an Australian teenager carried out a suicide bombing in Iraq as "absolutely horrific", highlighting the lure the Islamic State group has on youngsters. A photo posted online, purportedly from a propaganda video by the jihadist group, shows a white van alongside an inset image of a young man who appears to be Melbourne teen Jake Bilardi sitting in a driver's seat. It allegedly shows the 18-year-old, also known as Abu Abdullah al-Australi, before he attacks an Iraqi army unit in western Iraq, although the claims cannot be independently verified. "The government's capacity to confirm reports of deaths in either Syria or Iraq is extremely limited," it said.

Noah Galloway Discusses 'Dancing With The Stars' Obstacles Posted: 11 Mar 2015 04:40 PM PDT Noah Galloway is a military veteran, but come March 16, he'll be a ballroom rookie. During his deployment as a member of the United States Army, the Humvee Noah was traveling in with two other soldiers hit a tripwire that "detonated a roadside bomb," he told Access Hollywood 's Shaun Robinson during a "Dancing with the Stars" rehearsal with pro partner Sharna Burgess. "I was on my second tour in Iraq and was injured around Christmas in 2005 and woke up in the hospital, lost two of my limbs, had several other injuries and I went through a long struggle for the first couple of years and then decided to get back in shape and be a better father and just a better person and started doing races and things like that," Noah – who served in the same 101st Airborne Division as Season 13 "Dancing with the Stars" champ J.R. Martinez – explained.

Iranians in Iraq battle 'concerning': Pentagon chief Posted: 11 Mar 2015 03:57 PM PDT The presence of Iranian advisers in the Iraq battle for Tikrit is "concerning" to the United States, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said Wednesday. A mostly Shiite Iraqi force, including Iranian-backed militias, entered Tikrit Wednesday from the Islamic State group after a 10-day push to enter the city. The presence of Iranian military advisers in that force "is something that is concerning to us in particular because the sectarian danger in Iraq is the principal thing that can unravel the campaign against ISIS," Carter said using another name for IS. Iran backs a number of militias that are fighting the radical group IS which holds large swaths of Iraq and Syria.

'Dirty Brigades': US-Trained Iraqi Forces Investigated for War Crimes Posted: 11 Mar 2015 03:40 PM PDT U.S.-trained and armed Iraqi military units, the key to the American strategy against ISIS, are under investigation for committing some of the same atrocities as the terror group, American and Iraqi officials told ABC News. Some Iraqi units have already been cut off from U.S. assistance over "credible" human rights violations, according to a senior military official on the Pentagon's Joint Staff. The investigation, being conducted by the Iraqi government, was launched after officials were confronted with numerous allegations of "war crimes," based in part on dozens of ghastly videos and still photos that appear to show uniformed soldiers from some of Iraq's most elite units and militia members massacring civilians, torturing and executing prisoners, and displaying severed heads. "As the ISF [Iraqi Security Forces] and militias reclaim territory, their behavior must be above reproach or they risk being painted with the same brush as ISIL [ISIS] fighters," said a statement to ABC News from the U.S. government.

BARACK OBAMA: A MAN FOR THE AGES! Posted: 11 Mar 2015 03:35 PM PDT Everyone says President Obama is a feckless commander, weak in statecraft, especially compared to the great leaders of the Western world, such as Reagan and Churchill. I believe this does Obama a great injustice. Sure, Obama could have left a small contingent of American troops in Iraq, preserved America's victory, and prevented the entire region from collapsing into chaos and terror. Obama could do it, too.

Colonial Williamsburg may help guard Iraq relics imperiled by ISIS Posted: 11 Mar 2015 03:19 PM PDT Colonial Williamsburg, the living museum devoted to preserving early American history, has offered to help Iraqi cultural experts safely store relics threatened with destruction by Islamic State militants, a spokesman said on Wednesday. The museum in Williamsburg, Virginia, has drafted an offer to work with the Iraq State Board of Antiquities and Heritage and other Iraqi archaeological and historical organizations to help protect and preserve artifacts of historical and cultural importance that are at risk, according to spokesman Joe Straw. Colonial Williamsburg president Mitchell Reiss, a former senior U.S. diplomat, said the museum would accept all the Iraqi artifacts it can handle. "At Colonial Williamsburg, we well know that a nation's past is a foundation for its future," Reiss said in a statement.

Rights group blames Syria government forces for majority of doctor deaths Posted: 11 Mar 2015 03:18 PM PDT By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S.-based Physicians for Human Rights on Wednesday blamed Syrian government forces for 88 percent of its recorded attacks on hospitals and almost all recorded killings of medical workers during the country's four-year conflict. As the war enters its fifth year, the group said that Islamic State militants, who have captured swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq, have executed four health professionals and six attacks on medical facilities in the past 17 months. "To be clear, that these numbers are significantly lower than those by the government does not make these acts less criminal. Each execution of a doctor and each attack on a health facility is a war crime," Widney Brown, Physicians for Human Rights' director of programs, told a news conference.

Senate Democrats oppose 'blank check' for Islamic State fight Posted: 11 Mar 2015 03:04 PM PDT By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democrats made clear on Wednesday they have serious concerns about President Barack Obama's war authorization request for his Islamic State campaign, although they hoped lawmakers could pass a compromise measure. The politically charged initiative would give specific authority and limitations to the seven-month-long campaign, which is being fought under broad approvals passed more than a decade ago for foreign military endeavors under President George W. Bush. Despite appeals from top administration officials for bipartisan support, Republican Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, told a committee hearing that no Democrats backed the proposal. Senator Robert Menendez, the panel's top Democrat, said members of his party wanted strict restrictions on the use of combat troops and geographic limits.

Anti-IS fighter faces charges in Switzerland Posted: 11 Mar 2015 03:00 PM PDT A Swiss man of Syrian Christian origin who battled the Islamic State group faces charges after returning home, raising the issue of how Europe handles citizens fighting IS. European governments already face the headache of dealing with citizens who have gone to Syria to join the ultra-violent Islamist IS group. Police said that 33-year-old Johan Cosar, a native of the ancient Syriac Christian community, was arrested in the city of Basel but was released after questioning over his decision to join anti-IS fighters. He faces prosecution by Swiss military justice for joining a foreign army without official authorisation and risks up to three years behind bars if convicted.

Egypt investor meet to showcase Sisi's political clout Posted: 11 Mar 2015 02:57 PM PDT Egypt hosts a foreign investor conference Friday it hopes will jump-start its battered economy while showcasing international support for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as he battles increasingly radical Islamist opponents. Sisi, a former army chief voted into office after toppling his Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi, has positioned himself as a frontline ally in the regional fight against Islamist militants, arguing that his country deserves more international support. "The international economic conference is a reflection of the determination of Egypt and the Egyptians," he told Fox News in an interview broadcast on Monday. "If Egypt is stable -- a country of 90 million people -- this will represent the strongest bedrock of stability in this region," he said, according to an English translation of his comments.

1 Black Hawk crashed in fog, killing 11; Another turned back Posted: 11 Mar 2015 02:50 PM PDT EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AP) — Searchers struggled Wednesday to find the seven Marines and four soldiers killed when a helicopter crashed, hampered by the same fog that plagued a nighttime training mission.

Latest on military helicopter crash: More fog hampers search Posted: 11 Mar 2015 02:13 PM PDT 5:10 P.M

Islamic State ransacks Assyrian capital as Iraq appeals for help Posted: 11 Mar 2015 01:51 PM PDT By Dominic Evans BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Islamic State militants have desecrated another ancient Iraqi capital, the government said on Wednesday, razing parts of the 2,700-year-old city of Khorsabad famed for its colossal statues of human-headed winged bulls. Officials have said for several days they were checking reports of damage at Khorsabad following attacks on the cities of Nineveh, Nimrud and Hatra by the Islamist radicals who control much of northern Iraq. On Wednesday the head of Iraq's antiquities board and the country's antiquities minister both confirmed that damage had been inflicted in recent days at Khorsabad, although neither was able to give details. "The city walls were razed, and some elements of the temples, but we don't know the exact extent (of the damage)," antiquities director Qais Rasheed told Reuters.

US general: US worries about Iran-backed militias in Iraq Posted: 11 Mar 2015 01:43 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Iran is playing a helpful role against Islamic State militants in Iraq now, but once the extremists are vanquished, Tehran-backed militias could undermine efforts to unify the country, the top U.S. military officer said Wednesday.

France identifies man, boy in IS killing video as citizens Posted: 11 Mar 2015 01:31 PM PDT PARIS (AP) — A man and a boy featured in an Islamic State group propaganda video that threatens Jews and shows the killing of a Palestinian have been identified as French citizens, and investigators are looking into whether the man is related to an extremist who attacked a Jewish school in southern France in 2012, an official told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Dempsey: US worries about Iran-backed militias in Iraq Posted: 11 Mar 2015 01:28 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Iran is playing a helpful role against Islamic State militants in Iraq now, but once the extremists are vanquished, Tehran-backed militias could undermine efforts to unify the country, the top U.S. military officer said Wednesday.

Canada says foils plot to bomb Toronto financial district, U.S. consulate Posted: 11 Mar 2015 01:16 PM PDT By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada said on Wednesday it had foiled a plot by a self-proclaimed Islamic State supporter to bomb the U.S. consulate and other buildings in Toronto's financial district. The alleged plot came to light after the Pakistani man, who has lived in Canada since 2004, tried to recruit an undercover Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer, officials said. Jahanzeb Malik, 33, was arrested on Monday by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and appeared at a deportation hearing on Wednesday on grounds of being a danger to security.

The nonmilitary victories in Iraq's battle of Tikrit Posted: 11 Mar 2015 01:04 PM PDT A majority of Americans back the idea of sending combat troops to Iraq to defeat Islamic State, a poll finds. On Wednesday, the Iraqi Army, in its first major test since collapsing last year to an IS advance, entered IS-controlled Tikrit, a city just 80 miles north of Baghdad. While the military battle for Tikrit is itself significant – a prelude to taking back the second largest city, Mosul – what was striking was not military in nature. Both Sunnis and Shiites were at the front, either in the Army or related militias.

Iraqi forces enter IS-held Tikrit after 10-day push Posted: 11 Mar 2015 12:59 PM PDT Iraqi forces entered Tikrit Wednesday, dodging bombs and sniper fire in search of their biggest victory yet against embattled jihadists who tried to light new fires elsewhere in Iraq and Syria. The Islamic State group has suffered stinging defeats in the heart of its self-proclaimed "caliphate" recently, but its ultraviolent ideology has inspired attacks and recruits globally.

Florida military helicopter crash shows perils of combat training Posted: 11 Mar 2015 12:44 PM PDT Military training flights are among the most challenging and potentially dangerous in all of aviation. Investigators have begun piecing together what happened Tuesday night when a US Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter went down on the Florida Panhandle coastline near Pensacola. The Marines were part of a special operations group based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. The National Guard soldiers were from a unit based in Hammond, La. None were immediately identified pending notification of next of kin. Col. Pete Schneider of the Louisiana National Guard told The Wall Street Journal the helicopter battalion was "very experienced" and had served multiple tours in Iraq.

Worry over what follows swift Iraq win in Tikrit: top U.S. general Posted: 11 Mar 2015 12:40 PM PDT By Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. military officer on Wednesday predicted certain victory by Iraqi forces and Shi'ite militia battling to retake the city of Tikrit but voiced concern about how Sunni Muslims would be treated once Islamic State militants were driven away. The remarks to Congress by General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, came as Iraqi security forces and Iranian-backed militia advanced from the north and south to fight their way into Tikrit, former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's home city. It was their biggest counter-offensive so far against Islamic State militants, and U.S. forces, despite their deep investment in Iraq's war, have been watching from the sidelines.

U.S.-led forces conduct 13 air strikes in Iraq, two in Syria - U.S. Posted: 11 Mar 2015 12:40 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and coalition forces conducted 13 air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and two in Syria since Tuesday, the U.S. military said. Five of the strikes in Iraq were centered on the Islamic State-held city of Mosul and three each were aimed near Fallujah and al Qaim, destroying buildings, vehicles and artillery, the Combined Joint Task Force said in a statement on Wednesday. The Syria strikes destroyed two Islamic State vehicles near Kobani and hit multiple oil pump jackets near al Hasakah, it said. (Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Susan Heavey)

Iraqi forces push into Tikrit, bombers hit Ramadi Posted: 11 Mar 2015 12:40 PM PDT By Ahmed Rasheed and Dominic Evans BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi security forces and militias fought their way into Saddam Hussein's home city of Tikrit on Wednesday, advancing on two fronts in their biggest counter-offensive so far against Islamic State militants. In a possible response to the fighting north of Baghdad, militants in the Islamic State stronghold of Anbar west of the capital launched 13 suicide car bomb attacks on army and security positions in the provincial capital of Ramadi. Army and militia fighters captured part of Tikrit's northern Qadisiya district, the provincial governor said, while in the south of the Tigris river city a security officer said another force made a rapid push toward the center.

U.S. backs U.N. resolution on Boko Haram regional force Posted: 11 Mar 2015 12:37 PM PDT The United States supports the creation of a West African force of up to 10,000 troops to fight Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram, a U.S. defense official said on Wednesday. The 54-nation African Union has approved the force and has asked the United Nations to endorse it urgently, after attacks by the group in northeastern Nigeria and neighboring Chad, Niger and Cameroon as it seeks to carve out an Islamic state. U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs Amanda J. Dory said on a visit to Cameroon that Washington, one of five veto-holding members of the U.N. Security Council, would back a U.N. resolution. "The U.S. is providing diplomatic support in terms of engagement in the U.N. Security Council for the awaited resolution authorizing the deployment of a Multinational Joint Task Force by the African Union against Boko Haram," she told state radio.

Q&A: US troop positions in Iraq keep them off front lines Posted: 11 Mar 2015 12:11 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The death last week of a Canadian soldier, reportedly killed by friendly fire from Kurdish troops near the northern village of Bashiq, has put the spotlight once again on the dangers that U.S. troops could face in Iraq. President Barack Obama has vowed there will be no U.S. combat ground troops, but already nearly 3,000 U.S. troops are back in the country helping to train and bolster the Iraqi forces as they battle Islamic State militants.

Iraqi forces, militias sweep into Islamic State-held Tikrit Posted: 11 Mar 2015 12:00 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi soldiers and allied Shiite militiamen swept into the Islamic State-held city of Tikrit on Wednesday, launching a two-front offensive to squeeze extremists out of Saddam Hussein's hometown in a major test of the troops' resolve.

U.S. may be unable to defend its Syria recruits against Assad Posted: 11 Mar 2015 11:47 AM PDT By Phil Stewart and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States does not appear to have clear-cut legal authority to protect Syrian rebels it trains from attack by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, even under new war powers, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Wednesday. Still, Carter told Congress, a final determination had not yet been made. President Barack Obama's government says the Syria train-and-equip program will complement the campaign against Islamic State militants across the border in Iraq. The top U.S. military officer, General Martin Dempsey, testifying alongside Carter, warned that the United States would need to give some assurances of protection to the new recruits it is injecting into Syria's messy civil war.

Child in Islamic State video may be linked to French gunman: source Posted: 11 Mar 2015 11:34 AM PDT French officials are investigating whether a child shown shooting dead an Israeli Arab in a video posted by Islamic State militants is French and has ties to an al Qaeda-inspired gunman who killed seven people in March 2012, a police source said. The video shows Muhammad Musallam sitting in a room wearing an orange jumpsuit, talking about how he had been recruited and trained by the Israeli intelligence service Mossad. It shows Musallam being escorted to a field and shot by a child, described by an older, French-speaking fighter as one of "cubs of the caliphate". A French police source told Reuters the intelligence service believes the French-speaking fighter was Sabri Essid, the half-brother of Mohamed Merah, who killed three soldiers, a rabbi and three Jewish children before he was shot dead by police.

Iran parliament speaker in Qatar tries to allay Arab concern Posted: 11 Mar 2015 10:59 AM PDT DOHA, Qatar (AP) — In an attempt to allay Arab concerns about his country's role in the region, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said Wednesday that Tehran's assistance to the Iraqi people in confronting the extremist Islamic State group, has prevented more countries from being threatened by IS terrorism.

U.N. official calls China's crackdown on Uighurs 'disturbing' Posted: 11 Mar 2015 10:43 AM PDT By Sui-Lee Wee GENEVA (Reuters) - A U.N. human rights investigator on Wednesday criticized China's crackdown on the Muslim Uighurs in the far western region of Xinjiang, citing "disturbing stories" of harassment and intimidation against the ethnic minority. Xinjiang has been roiled by ethnic tensions between the Uighurs and majority Han Chinese. Uighur groups and human rights activists say the government's repressive policies in Xinjiang, including controls on Islam, have provoked unrest. Heiner Bielefeldt, special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, told a news briefing China's actions against the Uighurs were "a major problem".

Michael Wolff on Andrew Lack: Why NBC's New (Old) Newsman Makes Sense Posted: 11 Mar 2015 10:06 AM PDT Lack won't reinvent or innovate, but for a beleaguered division whose future itself is in doubt, an exec who knew the glory days (with Brian Williams, of course) can stop the bleeding.

Turkey shuts border crossings as fighting worsens around Syria's Aleppo Posted: 11 Mar 2015 09:57 AM PDT Turkey has closed two border crossings with Syria as a security precaution as fighting around the northern Syrian city of Aleppo intensifies, Turkish customs and government officials said on Wednesday. The crossings at Oncupinar and Cilvegozu in Turkey's southern Hatay province have been shut to vehicles and individuals crossing from Syria since Monday, customs officials at both posts told Reuters. "Turkey has some security concerns and it is natural for measures to be taken based on the threat assessment conducted. This is what is also expected by Turkey by the international community," said an official at a government agency, who declined to be identified.

British defence secretary dismisses U.S. concern about force cuts Posted: 11 Mar 2015 09:50 AM PDT Britain's defence secretary on Wednesday sought to dispel U.S. concerns about cuts in his country's defences, saying it was maintaining and developing a credible capability and urging fellow European NATO members to step up their forces. "Let me assure you the United Kingdom, like the United States, has no intention of lowering its guard," Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said in a speech before meeting new U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter. Last week U.S. Army Chief of Staff General Raymond Odierno caused a stir in London when he questioned Britain's plans and urged London to maintain spending at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's agreed level of 2 percent of national output into the future. Britain reduced defence spending by about 8 percent in real terms in the last four years to help cut a record budget deficit, shrinking the size of the armed forces by around one sixth.

British defense secretary dismisses U.S. concern about force cuts Posted: 11 Mar 2015 09:41 AM PDT Britain's defense secretary on Wednesday sought to dispel U.S. concerns about cuts in his country's defenses, saying it was maintaining and developing a credible capability and urging fellow European NATO members to step up their forces. "Let me assure you the United Kingdom, like the United States, has no intention of lowering its guard," Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said in a speech before meeting new U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter. Last week U.S. Army Chief of Staff General Raymond Odierno caused a stir in London when he questioned Britain's plans and urged London to maintain spending at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's agreed level of 2 percent of national output into the future. Britain reduced defense spending by about 8 percent in real terms in the last four years to help cut a record budget deficit, shrinking the size of the armed forces by around one sixth.

Japan tourism site hit by pro-IS hackers Posted: 11 Mar 2015 09:39 AM PDT A Japanese tourism agency said Wednesday its website was hijacked by hackers who displayed a message purportedly from the Islamic State (IS) group, less than two months after the group claimed to have beheaded two Japanese hostages. The Nishinomiya Tourism Association, near the major city of Osaka, said its home page started displaying what appeared to be a black-and-white IS logo late Sunday evening. IS militants claimed in a video earlier this year that it had killed respected war correspondent Kenji Goto, a week after the group said it had also beheaded his friend Haruna Yukawa, a self-styled contractor. In one clip, the IS executioner warned that Goto's killing would mark the beginning of "the nightmare for Japan".

Official: Man, boy in IS killing video are French citizens Posted: 11 Mar 2015 09:31 AM PDT PARIS (AP) — A man and a boy featured in a chilling Islamic State propaganda video showing the killing of a Palestinian have been identified as French citizens, and investigators are looking into whether the man is related to an extremist who attacked a Jewish school in southern France in 2012, an official told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Kerry calls for US war powers to strike IS Posted: 11 Mar 2015 09:23 AM PDT US Secretary of State John Kerry urged lawmakers Wednesday to give President Barack Obama new war powers to strike against Islamic jihadists at "a pivotal hour" in the battle against the militants. "Our nation is strongest when we act together -- and we simply cannot allow this collection of murderers and thugs to achieve its ambitions," Kerry told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The Islamic State (IS) group, which has captured a large swath of territory in Iraq and Syria, wanted to ensure "the death or submission of all who oppose it" as well as "the incitement of terrorist acts across the globe," he said.

IRAQ Posted: 11 Mar 2015 09:01 AM PDT Iraq launches operation to retake Tikrit. Map shows the area of the attack.; 2c x 4 inches; 96.3 mm x 101 mm;

Export of Iran's revolution enters 'new chapter': general Posted: 11 Mar 2015 08:59 AM PDT Iran's top general said Wednesday his country has reached "a new chapter" towards its declared aim of exporting revolution, in reference to Tehran's growing regional influence. The comments by Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the nation's powerful Revolutionary Guards Corps, come amid concern among some of Shiite Iran's neighbours about Tehran's role. "The Islamic revolution is advancing with good speed, its example being the ever-increasing export of the revolution," he said, according to the ISNA news agency.

A history of the Islamic State group amid Tikrit offensive Posted: 11 Mar 2015 08:33 AM PDT CAIRO (AP) — The extremist Islamic State group, which now controls a third of both Iraq and Syria in its self-declared caliphate, found itself targeted in a major offensive Wednesday that saw Iraqi soldiers and allied Shiite militiamen enter the city of Tikrit.

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