Yahoo! News: Iraq

---

• Islamic State fighters and force allied with Tripoli clash in central Libya
• Vatican official says force may be needed to combat Islamic State: interview
• Salvage continues at Florida military helicopter crash site
• Powerful Libyan militia alliance in rare clash with IS
• Iraqi Kurds say Islamic State used chlorine gas against them
• Iraq Kurds say evidence IS used chlorine bomb
• Iraqi Kurds claim Islamic State group used chemical weapons
• U.S. to keep more troops in Afghanistan than planned: AP
• Kurdish, Christian forces gain on IS in NE Syria battles
• Egypt secures billion in investment at key conference for Sisi
• White House fence jumper pleads guilty to two charges
• Islamic State targeted in 10 air strikes by U.S., allies: statement
• Iraqi troops pause, await back-up in battle for Tikrit against militants
• Republicans say Obama keen for Iran deal to build own legacy
• Officials: US to keep higher level of troops in Afghanistan
• Kurds battle Islamic State in Syria, U.S.-led coalition jets strike
• For small-town America, new immigrants pose linguistic, cultural challenges
• U.S. warns of possible attacks on Western oil workers in Saudi Arabia
• Human rights concerns limit U.S. intelligence, military aid to Nigeria
• Politics spills over water's edge on foreign policy _ again
• ISIS Has Lost 25 Percent of Territory It Once Held in Iraq, US Says
• US does not want to see Syrian regime 'collapse': CIA

Islamic State fighters and force allied with Tripoli clash in central Libya Posted: 14 Mar 2015 04:34 PM PDT Clashes erupted in central Libya on Saturday between Islamic State fighters and a force loyal to a Tripoli-based faction, a military official and residents said. It was the first publicly known major confrontation between the two groups since militants loyal to Islamic State, the group which has seized much of Iraq and Syria, established a larger presence in central Libya in recent weeks. Islamic State, which analysts say is splintered into smaller factions in Libya, has sought to exploit turmoil in the major oil producer where two rival governments and their respective allies fight for power. On Saturday, Islamic State militants clashed with forces allied to a Tripoli-based government that was established after an armed faction called Libya Dawn seized the capital in August.

Vatican official says force may be needed to combat Islamic State: interview Posted: 14 Mar 2015 04:17 PM PDT The Vatican's ambassador in Geneva has said the use of force will be necessary to protect minority groups from Islamic State aggression if a political solution cannot be achieved. In an interview with U.S. Catholic website Crux, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi said the jihadists, who have declared a cross-border caliphate after seizing land in eastern Syria and northern Iraq, were committing "genocide" and must be stopped. "What's needed is a coordinated and well-thought-out coalition to do everything possible to achieve a political settlement without violence," Crux quoted Tomasi as saying on Friday, "but if that's not possible, then the use of force will be necessary." Tomasi's words follow repeated condemnations of Islamic State by Pope Francis, who decried the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya in February and has said it is "lawful" to stop an unjust aggressor. The Vatican said more than 60 countries including the United States have endorsed the statement, which warns that Christians in particular now "live a serious existential threat".

Salvage continues at Florida military helicopter crash site Posted: 14 Mar 2015 03:40 PM PDT MIAMI (AP) — The largest sections of a Black Hawk helicopter that crashed during a nighttime training mission were pulled Saturday from the waters off Florida's Panhandle amid efforts to recover the remains of all seven Marines and four soldiers who were killed.

Powerful Libyan militia alliance in rare clash with IS Posted: 14 Mar 2015 01:15 PM PDT Rare clashes between fighters from the Islamic State group and the Fajr Libya militia coalition erupted Saturday in the central city of Sirte, security and militia officials said. It was the first report of fighting between the two groups since February, when Fajr Libya said it had sent reinforcements to Sirte to restore security there. A local security official said the fighting broke out at midday in the eastern part of Sirte where the jihadists have positions, but he was unable to say what started it. General Mohammed al-Ajtal, a commander with Fajr Libya, spoke of "fierce fighting" and told AFP one of his men had been killed.

Iraqi Kurds say Islamic State used chlorine gas against them Posted: 14 Mar 2015 12:56 PM PDT By Isabel Coles ARBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi Kurdish authorities said on Saturday they had evidence that Islamic State had used chlorine gas as a chemical weapon against their peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq in January. The Security Council of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region said in a statement to Reuters that the peshmerga had taken soil and clothing samples after an Islamic State car bombing attempt on Jan. 23. Chlorine is a choking agent whose use as a chemical weapon dates back to World War One. It is banned under the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention, which prohibits all use of toxic agents on the battlefield.

Iraq Kurds say evidence IS used chlorine bomb Posted: 14 Mar 2015 12:17 PM PDT Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan government has obtained evidence that the Islamic State group used chlorine in a car bomb attack against its peshmerga forces in January, a statement said Saturday. "Peshmerga forces collected soil and clothing samples after a vehicle-borne suicide attack (VBIED) on 23 January 2015," the Kurdistan Region Security Council said. The analysis was carried out in the European Union and "found the samples contained levels of chlorine that suggested the substance was used in weaponised form", the statement said. The security body, which is chaired by the son of Kurdish President Massud Barzani, argued that the use of the chemical agent was a sign of desperation by the jihadists.

Iraqi Kurds claim Islamic State group used chemical weapons Posted: 14 Mar 2015 12:04 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Kurdish authorities in Iraq said Saturday they have evidence that the Islamic State group used chlorine gas as a chemical weapon against peshmerga fighters, the latest alleged atrocity carried out by the extremist organization now under attack in Tikrit.

U.S. to keep more troops in Afghanistan than planned: AP Posted: 14 Mar 2015 11:48 AM PDT The United States has abandoned plans to cut the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan to 5,500 by year's end, the Associated Press reported on Saturday, but a senior U.S. official told Reuters no decision has been made. Many of the 9,800 U.S. troops currently in Afghanistan would probably remain well into next year, although no final decision on numbers had been made yet, AP reported, citing unnamed U.S. officials. President Barack Obama probably will use a Washington visit by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani this month to announce the new withdrawal timeline, AP said. Ghani has asked the United States to slow the pace of withdrawal.

Kurdish, Christian forces gain on IS in NE Syria battles Posted: 14 Mar 2015 10:27 AM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — Kurdish fighters and Christian militiamen are making gains against the Islamic State group in northeastern Syria, with intense clashes amid airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition, an activist group and a Kurdish official said Saturday.

Egypt secures billion in investment at key conference for Sisi Posted: 14 Mar 2015 09:51 AM PDT Egypt had secured billions of dollars in investment deals and aid pledges by Saturday at a conference hailed as a show of support for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his fight against jihadists. The largest deal was penned with British Petroleum for a record investment of $12 billion in Egyptian gas fields with Russian partner DEA.

White House fence jumper pleads guilty to two charges Posted: 14 Mar 2015 09:44 AM PDT A mentally disturbed US Army veteran who jumped over the White House fence and ran into the president's mansion with a knife pleaded guilty Friday to two federal charges. Omar Gonzalez, 43, faces 18 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful entry while carrying a weapon and one count of assaulting officers, according to court documents. The September 19, 2014 intrusion was just one in a string of recent security failures surrounding President Barack Obama, including one in which an armed contractor with a criminal record rode in an elevator carrying Obama. After the Gonzalez incident, lawmakers wanted to know how someone could scale the fence, race 70 yards (meters) across a lawn, enter unlocked White House doors, knock down an agent, and run into the East Room -- all without being stopped.

Islamic State targeted in 10 air strikes by U.S., allies: statement Posted: 14 Mar 2015 09:08 AM PDT The United States and its coalition partners staged 10 air strikes on Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria in a 24-hour period, the Combined Joint Task Force said on Saturday. The strikes, which began on Friday, hit a fighting position and tactical units near the Syrian cities of Kobani and Al Hasakah, the task force said in a statement on the latest daily raids. In Iraq, four strikes targeted a large Islamic State unit, two tactical units, four buildings and vehicles near Kirkuk.

Iraqi troops pause, await back-up in battle for Tikrit against militants Posted: 14 Mar 2015 09:04 AM PDT By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi forces and mainly Shi'ite militiamen battling to wrest full control of the city of Tikrit from Islamic State militants paused their offensive for a second day on Saturday as they awaited reinforcements, a military source said. More than 20,000 troops and Iranian-backed Shi'ite fighters entered Tikrit on Wednesday, having retaken areas to the north and south in Iraq's biggest offensive against the militants yet. Islamic State fighters still hold about half the city and have booby-trapped buildings and laid improvised explosive devices and roadside bombs, the source in the local military command center told Reuters. More "well-trained forces" were needed for the street-by-street battles that recapturing the city would require, the source said, speaking by phone from Tikrit.

Republicans say Obama keen for Iran deal to build own legacy Posted: 14 Mar 2015 08:44 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans critical of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks contend President Barack Obama is so keen for a deal that he is ignoring Tehran's moves to expand its influence across the Middle East.

Officials: US to keep higher level of troops in Afghanistan Posted: 14 Mar 2015 08:05 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is abandoning plans to cut the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan to 5,500 by year's end, bowing to military leaders who want to keep more troops, including many into the 2016 fighting season, U.S. officials say.

Kurds battle Islamic State in Syria, U.S.-led coalition jets strike Posted: 14 Mar 2015 07:41 AM PDT U.S.-led coalition jets struck Islamic State positions in northeast Syria for the second day in a row, in an area where the militants are battling Kurdish forces, a Kurdish official and a group monitoring the war said on Saturday. The Kurdish YPG militia, which has emerged as the coalition's main partner fighting Islamic State on the ground in Syria, has made significant gains in recent weeks in the north, cutting an important supply route from Iraq. Last week Islamic State appeared to try to seize back the initiative, attacking Kurdish fighters using tanks and heavy weapons close to the Turkish border. The overnight strikes were the first on the area since last month, said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

For small-town America, new immigrants pose linguistic, cultural challenges Posted: 14 Mar 2015 05:41 AM PDT The drownings at Riverview Park cast a grim light on the challenges facing both the city and its newest immigrants, most of whom spoke little English and had scant understanding of life in their new home – including the perils, known to more established residents, of the river's treacherous currents. You don't play around the river," says Kay Beach, president of the Marshalltown school board. For two decades, rural communities across the Midwest have been finding ways to absorb Latino immigrants. Now, a new generation of immigrants arriving from far-flung places such as Myanmar, Somalia, Iraq, and West Africa has brought a bewildering variety of cultures and languages.

U.S. warns of possible attacks on Western oil workers in Saudi Arabia Posted: 14 Mar 2015 02:35 AM PDT Western oil workers in Saudi Arabia may be the target of militant attacks, the U.S. embassy warned on Friday. "The U.S. Embassy has information stating that, as of early March, individuals associated with a terrorist organization could be targeting Western oil workers, possibly to include those U.S. citizens working for oil companies in the Eastern Province, for an attack(s) and/or kidnapping(s)," it said. Tensions are growing in the country's oil-rich Eastern province, one of the main centers of the Shi'ite community in majority Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia, as neighboring Yemen, Iraq and Syria contend with violent sectarian conflict.

Human rights concerns limit U.S. intelligence, military aid to Nigeria Posted: 14 Mar 2015 01:06 AM PDT By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is limiting its intelligence and military aid to Nigeria during Boko Haram's deadly insurgency due to concerns over the country's human rights record, U.S. officials say. Boko Haram has killed thousands of people in northeastern Nigeria in its six-year insurgency and has also pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, which has created a self-declared caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria. The United States has shied away from providing Nigeria with real-time information for targeting Boko Haram militants, a U.S. government official said, partly in fear that the Nigerians will use the information to target the wrong people. Human-rights concerns have also hindered the ability of the United States to assist security forces in Nigeria's neighbors, including Cameroon, Chad and Niger, which recently have stepped up their engagement in the conflict against Boko Haram, the officials said, requesting anonymity.

Politics spills over water's edge on foreign policy _ again Posted: 14 Mar 2015 12:27 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — American politicians like to pick and choose when they will abide by the storied notion that politics should stop at the water's edge, and when to give that idea a kick in the pants.

ISIS Has Lost 25 Percent of Territory It Once Held in Iraq, US Says Posted: 13 Mar 2015 09:26 PM PDT "We assess ISIL's front lines have been pushed back in northern and central Iraq," Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said at a Pentagon briefing today, referring to the militant group also known as ISIS. The recaptured areas represent an area between 4,100 and 5,200 square miles or 11,000 and 13,500 square kilometers, Warren said. At its peak, ISIS was in control of 55,000 square kilometers in northern and western Iraq, Pentagon officials said.

US does not want to see Syrian regime 'collapse': CIA Posted: 13 Mar 2015 05:59 PM PDT CIA Director John Brennan said the United States does not want to see a chaotic collapse of the Syrian regime as it could open the way to Islamist extremists taking power. The spy agency chief said Washington had reason to worry about who might replace President Bashar al-Assad if his government fell, given the rise of the Islamic State group and other jihadists in Syria. Speaking at an event at the Council on Foreign Relations, he said that "extremist elements" including the IS group and Al-Qaeda veterans are "ascendant right now" in some parts of Syria.

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