Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• U.S. conducts raid in Syria, says it kills senior Islamic State leader
• U.S. Forces Eliminate Key ISIS Official
• Among rivals in Iowa, Bush tries to bounce back from remarks
• With swoop on Islamic State compound, U.S. commandos seek to disrupt financing
• What we know about Abu Sayyaf: The Islamic State leader killed by U.S. forces
• Top IS fundraiser killed in rare US raid in Syria
• Bush's tough week exposes challenges for his likely 2016 bid
• US says IS head of oil operations killed in US raid in Syria
• US commandos kill top IS leader in Syria raid
• Iraq sends troops to Ramadi, largely held by Islamic State
• Bill & Hillary Clinton earn $25 million: Does that matter politically?
• Cairo blasts strain Egypt's bomb squad
• Will ISIS destroy Palmyra, 'the bride of the desert'?
• IS group enters Syrian town of Palmyra, nears ancient ruins
• U.S. hits Islamic State in Syria as jihadists press attacks
• France calls for fairer asylum seeker distribution within EU
• Islamic State militants withdraw from government compound in Iraq's Ramadi: mayor
• Girl suicide bomber kills seven in northeast Nigeria
• Jihadists advance on ancient Palmyra as US kills top IS leader
• U.S.-led coalition launches 21 air strikes against Islamic State: task force
• Islamic State said to advance further near ancient Palmyra
• Boko Haram recaptures key town in northeast Nigeria
• US military maintains its strategy against IS is working
• IS seizes Iraqi govt compound, kills dozens in Syria
• US weapons 'expedited' to Iraq amid IS advance: Biden

U.S. conducts raid in Syria, says it kills senior Islamic State leader Posted: 16 May 2015 04:30 PM PDT By Will Dunham and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American special operations forces killed a senior Islamic State leader in a raid in Syria, U.S. officials said on Saturday, an operation that marked a departure from Washington's strategy of relying primarily on air strikes to target militants there. Delta Force commandos used UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft to punch deep into eastern Syria from Iraq. They engaged in a firefight and hand-to-hand combat with Islamic State fighters, killed a key figure in the group named as Abu Sayyaf and captured his wife, U.S. officials said.

U.S. Forces Eliminate Key ISIS Official Posted: 16 May 2015 03:43 PM PDT Traveling by Black Hawk helicopters and Chinook aircraft, Special Operations soldiers from the U.S. Army Delta Force crossed into Syria on Friday night and killed Abu Sayyaf, a senior Islamic State commander responsible for the terrorist group's oil and gas operations. In a statement released on Saturday, the Obama Administration described the mission as a success, and said no American forces or Syrian civilians were injured.

Among rivals in Iowa, Bush tries to bounce back from remarks Posted: 16 May 2015 02:52 PM PDT IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Republican Jeb Bush tried Saturday to regain his stride after an awkward week, noting his misstep about the Iraq war with humility and a laugh while reaffirming his affection for brother George W. Bush, the president who ordered the invasion.

With swoop on Islamic State compound, U.S. commandos seek to disrupt financing Posted: 16 May 2015 02:13 PM PDT By Matt Spetalnick and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After weeks of planning and surveillance focused on a compound near the oilfields of eastern Syria, elite American commandos were finally given the green light to swoop in on their target – an Islamic State commander considered to have acted as the group's "chief financial officer." Mounting a rare raid in a war-ravaged country where U.S. President Barack Obama has long been reluctant to commit "boots on the ground," the Delta Force unit flew in from Iraq under cover of darkness in the early hours of Saturday on Black Hawk helicopters and Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. Their objective, according to U.S. officials: to capture alive a Tunisian-born militant leader, Abu Sayyaf, believed responsible for overseeing the group's black-market sales of oil and gas and other financial operations to help fund a brutal Jihadist campaign that has seized swathes of Syria and Iraq. As U.S. special operations forces assaulted the compound housing Islamic State leadership in the town of al-Amr,, they were confronted by militant fighters.

What we know about Abu Sayyaf: The Islamic State leader killed by U.S. forces Posted: 16 May 2015 01:52 PM PDT Before Saturday, most Americans had never heard of Abu Sayyaf. But according to the Department of Defense, the senior Islamic State leader wielded the kind of power worthy of sending U.S. Special Operations forces into eastern Syria on a rare and risky mission to capture him.

Top IS fundraiser killed in rare US raid in Syria Posted: 16 May 2015 01:27 PM PDT The United States upped the ante in its war on the Islamic State in Syria, killing a dozen militants and a major fundraiser Saturday in a rare ground operation by special forces, the White House said. US commandos have entered Syria before, including last year on a failed bid to rescue Western hostages, but this week's operation appeared to mark a departure in missions targeting the militants. The raid is the first publicly confirmed American ground operation targeting jihadists in Syria. On orders from President Barack Obama, elite troops from the US Army's Delta special operations forces based in Iraq sought to capture the IS militant Abu Sayyaf, who oversaw oil smuggling for the jihadists.

Bush's tough week exposes challenges for his likely 2016 bid Posted: 16 May 2015 12:57 PM PDT SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Jeb Bush worked his way through the dim hallway of an Arizona resort for hours, shuttling from room to room and meeting with dozens of Republican officials, many for the first time.

US says IS head of oil operations killed in US raid in Syria Posted: 16 May 2015 12:45 PM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — In a rare ground attack deep into Syria, U.S. Army commandos killed a man described as the Islamic State's head of oil operations, captured his wife and rescued a woman whom American officials said was enslaved.

US commandos kill top IS leader in Syria raid Posted: 16 May 2015 12:28 PM PDT US commandos killed a senior Islamic State group leader in a nighttime raid into Syria, US officials said Saturday, as IS jihadists seized the northern part of Syria's ancient Palmyra. Across the border, IS battled Iraqi army reinforcements in the western city of Ramadi, while Turkey said its armed forces shot down a Syrian helicopter which violated its airspace. US special forces raided Al-Omar in east Syria on Friday night to capture senior IS leader Abu Sayyaf and his wife Umm Sayyaf, US officials said.

Iraq sends troops to Ramadi, largely held by Islamic State Posted: 16 May 2015 12:27 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq has sent reinforcements to help its battered forces in Ramadi, a city now largely held by the Islamic State group after militants seized the main government compound the day before, a military spokesman said Saturday.

Bill & Hillary Clinton earn $25 million: Does that matter politically? Posted: 16 May 2015 12:23 PM PDT Hillary and Bill Clinton have earned more than $30 million since January 2014, according to Mrs. Clinton's financial disclosure form, made public by multiple news organizations Saturday. News of her big earnings could compound a branding problem for Clinton as she begins her 2016 campaign. Critics have called out the couple on their exorbitant speaking fees, which, based on Clinton's financial disclosure form, went as high as $330,000 for a single appearance. While campaigning for the presidency in 2007, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani earned more than $9 million in speaking fees within 13 months, The Washington Post reported.

Cairo blasts strain Egypt's bomb squad Posted: 16 May 2015 12:00 PM PDT Egyptian bomb disposal expert Diaa Fathy had long predicted he would die in a flash, before that fateful day in January when a bomb exploded on a busy road leading to the pyramids. Fathy's death, captured in graphic video footage that went viral on the Internet, was not the first among the country's bomb disposal squad, which has defended its training programme in the face of questions over its professionalism. On January 6, the 30-year-old police captain was blown up as he tried to defuse a bomb hidden in a flower pot outside a petrol station in Cairo's Al-Haram street. The small rudimentary bombs that regularly go off in Cairo bear no comparison to those used in strife-torn countries like Iraq, Afghanistan or Pakistan that cause massive civilian casualties.

Will ISIS destroy Palmyra, 'the bride of the desert'? Posted: 16 May 2015 11:59 AM PDT Syrian state-run media, SANA, reported a recent outbreak in fighting between the Syrian government forces and Islamic State fighters in and around the modern Syrian town of Tadmur, within a few hundred meters of ancient Palmyra. Syria Direct reported that the Assad regime considers Tadmur (and therefore, Palmyra) to be the front line against ISIS operating in the eastern part of the country.

IS group enters Syrian town of Palmyra, nears ancient ruins Posted: 16 May 2015 11:32 AM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — Islamic State fighters have pushed into the Syrian town of Palmyra, home to famed 2,000-year-old ruins, and are clashing with government troops in residential areas.

U.S. hits Islamic State in Syria as jihadists press attacks Posted: 16 May 2015 11:22 AM PDT By Will Dunham and Tom Perry WASHINGTON/BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S special forces killed a man identified as a senior Islamic State leader during a raid into Syria, U.S. officials said, as the jihadists battled for the Iraqi city of Ramadi and ancient Palmyra in Syria. The White House said President Barack Obama ordered the raid that killed the Islamic State figure identified as Abu Sayyaf, who helped direct the group's oil, gas and financial operations.

France calls for fairer asylum seeker distribution within EU Posted: 16 May 2015 10:35 AM PDT The European Union needs a system of border controls and a way for asylum seekers to be more fairly distributed among EU member states, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Saturday. Nearly 1,000 migrants, many coming from Africa via Italy, were intercepted in southern France near the Italian border in the past three days, officials said at the weekend. In response, border police forces and controls on highways, trains and buses and various check points have been beefed up, Valls said as he visited Menton, a Riviera town only a few kilometers from the Italian border. "We need to create a European system of border controls," Valls said, adding that France was making concrete proposals to Brussels on the matter.

Islamic State militants withdraw from government compound in Iraq's Ramadi: mayor Posted: 16 May 2015 09:17 AM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Islamic State militants withdrew from the main government building in the Iraqi city of Ramadi on Saturday, the mayor and a tribal leader said, a day after the jihadist group raised its black flag over the building in the western provincial capital. Air strikes by a U.S.-led coalition forced the militants to retreat, leaving the buildings booby trapped or on fire, the officials said. Their reports could not be confirmed independently. (Reporting by Baghdad bureau; Writing by Stephen Kalin; Editing by Michael Georgy)

Girl suicide bomber kills seven in northeast Nigeria Posted: 16 May 2015 08:59 AM PDT A girl aged about 12 carried out a suicide attack at a bus station in northeastern Nigeria on Saturday, killing seven people and injuring 31, witnesses said, shortly after officials revealed Boko Haram Islamists had recaptured a strategic town. "A girl aged about 12 detonated an explosive under her clothes as she approached the station's perimeter fence," said Danbaba Nguru, a shopkeeper who witnessed the attack in the town of Damaturu. The Damaturu bus station has been repeatedly targeted in a string of previous suicide attacks. No claim of responsibility for the attack has been made but Islamist group Boko Haram has frequently used young girls to carry out suicide attacks.

Jihadists advance on ancient Palmyra as US kills top IS leader Posted: 16 May 2015 08:39 AM PDT US special forces killed a senior Islamic State group leader in a raid in eastern Syria, the White House said Saturday, as jihadists closed in on Syria's ancient Palmyra and Ramadi in Iraq. President Barack Obama ordered the raid on Al-Omar in east Syria on Friday night to capture senior IS leader Abu Sayyaf and his wife Umm Sayyaf, US officials said.

U.S.-led coalition launches 21 air strikes against Islamic State: task force Posted: 16 May 2015 06:43 AM PDT The United States and its allies conducted six air strikes in Syria and 15 in Iraq since early on Friday targeting Islamic State militants, the Combined Joint Task Force carrying out the operations said on Saturday. In Syria, air strikes using bomber and fighter aircraft hit near Al Hasakah, the task force said in a statement. In Iraq, air strikes using attack, fighter aircraft and drones hit near Al Hawijah, Bayji, Mosul, Ramadi, Sinjar and Tal Afar, it said. The statement said the air strikes took place between 8 a.m. local time on Friday and 8 a.m. on Saturday.

Islamic State said to advance further near ancient Palmyra Posted: 16 May 2015 04:53 AM PDT Islamic State militants were reported to have gained ground against Syrian troops in fighting near the historic city of Palmyra on Saturday, a target in an offensive by the jihadist group that has raised concern for the U.N. world heritage site. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group that reports on the war, also said Islamic State militants had executed 23 people on Friday including nine minors and five women in areas seized from state control outside the city. Syrian government antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim said fighting continued at 1-2 km (around a mile) from the city, which he said was still "firmly under government control". A military source said fighting was ongoing but at "a distance far from the city".

Boko Haram recaptures key town in northeast Nigeria Posted: 16 May 2015 02:34 AM PDT Boko Haram Islamists have recaptured the strategic town of Marte in northeastern Nigeria's restive Borno state, a regional official said early on Saturday. "It is sad as we have been made to understand that Marte has today completely fallen under the control of the insurgents, which to us is a very huge setback," said Mustapha Zannah, vice governor of the Borno state. The town, located along a strategic trading route between Nigeria and neighbouring Cameroon and Chad, has traded hands between the jihadists and government troops numerous times since 2013. A regional military coalition of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon has claimed a series of major victories against Boko Haram since launching sweeping offensives against the jihadists in February.

US military maintains its strategy against IS is working Posted: 16 May 2015 12:40 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite major new setbacks in Iraq, the U.S. military command leading the fight against Islamic State militants insists that its strategy is working and that the militants' takeover of a key oil refinery and a government compound are fleeting gains feeding an IS propaganda machine.

IS seizes Iraqi govt compound, kills dozens in Syria Posted: 16 May 2015 12:04 AM PDT Islamic State extremists made key gains, seizing a government compound in the strategic Iraqi city of Ramadi hours after allegedly massacring dozens of civilians as they closed in on Syria's ancient metropolis of Palmyra. Women and children were among 23 people executed in cold blood outside Palmyra, monitoring groups said, as fears grew that advancing IS troops would destroy the ancient city renowned as a world heritage site. Following the latest reported IS atrocity in Syria, jihadists raised their black flag over Ramadi's government headquarters after launching a wide offensive using suicide car bombs that sent civilians fleeing the western city, edging closer to what would be their biggest victory in Iraq this year.

US weapons 'expedited' to Iraq amid IS advance: Biden Posted: 15 May 2015 09:52 PM PDT The United States is sending "continued and expedited" weapons to Iraq, Vice President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, amid a major Islamic State group advance. The phone call took place after Islamic State extremists seized a government compound in the city of Ramadi earlier in the day, edging closer to what would be their biggest victory in Iraq this year. Biden thanked Abadi "for his steadfast leadership in Iraq and for promoting national unity at a time of significant security challenges, including today's ISIL attack on Ramadi," a White House statement said.

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