Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Islamic State's 'minister of war' likely killed in U.S. air strike: officials
• IS commander 'likely killed' in Syria air strike: US official
• Officials: US airstrike targeted IS military commander
• GOP group: Tweet about Duckworth and veterans was a mistake
• Canada lawmakers vote symbolically for anti-IS mission
• Trump says foreign policy team still not ready
• A quarter of a million Syrian children living under siege: charity
• IS fire from Syria kills 2 in Turkey, including child
• American killed in Tel Aviv stabbing spree as Biden visits
• Islamic State's de facto 'minister of war' possibly killed: U.S. officials
• Slovenia to ban transit of migrants as crisis spirals
• How Corrupt Are Our Elected Officials? A New Study May Surprise You
• WFP says serious food shortages in Falluja, besieged by Iraqi army
• U.S. general wants to revive training of Syrians fighting Islamic State
• Two killed as rockets from Syria hit southern Turkish town: mayor
• Finland charges two Iraqi men with war crimes
• US commander in Africa says Libya is a failed state
• From Africa, an unexpected lesson in how to topple terrorists
• The Latest: Turkey and Greece reaffirm deal on migrants
• U.S. Vice President Biden speaks with Iraq's Abadi about attacks, aid: White House
• Israel, US in new row as Biden arrives for talks
• Mass return under EU-Turkish plan on refugees would contravene law: UNHCR
• Obama to disclose drone strike deaths: What will be included – and omitted?
• Biden talks about 'nasty' US campaign during Mideast tour
• Ukrainians picket Russian embassy over detained pilot
• BRAC Is Back – but Will Congress Actually Close More Military Bases?
• U.S., allies stage 24 strikes in Iraq, Syria against Islamic State
• Tunisia says Islamic State attacked border to control town
• Merkel says things moving in right direction on the migrant issue
• Op-ed: Rep. Duckworth: Let's Refocus Efforts on Needs of Working Families
• US strikes hit Somalia training camp; drone report previewed

Islamic State's 'minister of war' likely killed in U.S. air strike: officials Posted: 08 Mar 2016 05:01 PM PST By Phil Stewart and Warren Strobel WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An Islamic State commander described by the Pentagon as the group's "minister of war" was likely killed in a U.S. air strike in Syria, U.S. officials said on Tuesday, in what would be a major victory in the United States' efforts to strike the militant group's leadership. Abu Omar al-Shishani, also known as Omar the Chechen, ranked among America's most wanted militants under a U.S. program that offered up to $5 million for information to help remove him from the battlefield. Born in 1986 in Georgia, which was then still part of the Soviet Union, the red-bearded Shishani had a reputation as a close military adviser to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was said by followers to have relied heavily on Shishani.

IS commander 'likely killed' in Syria air strike: US official Posted: 08 Mar 2016 03:44 PM PST The Islamic State group's battle-tested equivalent of a defense minister is believed to have been killed in a US air strike in Syria, a US official said Tuesday. The target of the March 4 attack was Omar al-Shishani, a Georgian fighting with the jihadist group in Syria, the Pentagon said in a statement. Al-Shishani is the nom de guerre of Tarkhan Batirashvili, a Georgian with a $5 million US bounty on his head.

Officials: US airstrike targeted IS military commander Posted: 08 Mar 2016 03:09 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. warplanes targeted a top Islamic State commander in an airstrike in northeastern Syria last week, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.

GOP group: Tweet about Duckworth and veterans was a mistake Posted: 08 Mar 2016 03:01 PM PST CHICAGO (AP) — The National Republican Senatorial Committee briefly posted a tweet Tuesday that said a Democratic candidate from Illinois who lost both legs as an Army helicopter pilot "has a sad record of not standing up" for veterans.

Canada lawmakers vote symbolically for anti-IS mission Posted: 08 Mar 2016 02:47 PM PST Ottawa (AFP) - Canadian lawmakers voted symbolically Tuesday to support the government's rejigged contribution to the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

Trump says foreign policy team still not ready Posted: 08 Mar 2016 02:33 PM PST By Mark Hosenball and Susan Heavey WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump acknowledged on Tuesday he does not yet have a foreign policy team, and three former U.S. military and intelligence officials who have endorsed him are little known in either the Republican Party or the wider foreign policy community. The New York billionaire, who had promised to name his foreign policy and national security advisers last month, told MSNBC that he has met with people but made no decision yet on who to advise him on global affairs. Asked whether he had a team, Trump said on Tuesday: "Yes, there is a team.

A quarter of a million Syrian children living under siege: charity Posted: 08 Mar 2016 02:08 PM PST At least 250,000 Syrian children are living under siege, with many forced to eat animal feed or leaves to survive, Save the Children said Wednesday, as the war's fifth anniversary looms. "They and their families are cut off from the outside world, surrounded by warring groups that illegally use siege against civilians as a weapon of war," the charity said in a report. "At least a quarter of a million children are living under brutal siege in areas of Syria that have effectively been turned into open-air prisons," it added.

IS fire from Syria kills 2 in Turkey, including child Posted: 08 Mar 2016 01:39 PM PST Eight rockets fired from a jihadist-controlled area of Syria slammed into a Turkish border town on Tuesday, killing two people including a four-year-old child, officials said. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu confirmed two Turkish citizens in the town of Kilis had been killed by fire coming from an area in Syria controlled by Islamic State (IS) jihadists and that the Turkish army had returned fire. "Any attack against Turkey will be responded to in the most severe manner and we have already given instructions to our armed forces in this regard," Davutoglu said at a news conference alongside Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

American killed in Tel Aviv stabbing spree as Biden visits Posted: 08 Mar 2016 12:38 PM PST A Palestinian went on a stabbing spree along the Tel Aviv waterfront Tuesday as US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in the city, leaving an American tourist dead and 12 people wounded, police said. Police said the attacker wounded a number of people in the Jaffa port area, a touristic zone of Israel's commercial capital, before going on toward a restaurant and stabbing others. Biden met former Israeli president Shimon Peres after his arrival at a location about a 15-minute walk from where the stabbings occurred.

Islamic State's de facto 'minister of war' possibly killed: U.S. officials Posted: 08 Mar 2016 12:36 PM PST By Phil Stewart and Warren Strobel WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A red-bearded Islamic State commander described by American officials as the group's de facto minister of war may have been killed in an air strike in Syria on Friday by the U.S.-led coalition, several U.S. officials said on Tuesday. Abu Omar al-Shishani, also known as Omar the Chechen, ranked among the most wanted militants under a U.S. reward program that offered up to $5 million for information to help remove him from the battlefield. Born in 1986 in Georgia, which was then still part of the Soviet Union, Shishani had a reputation as a close military adviser to Islamic State's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was said by followers to have relied heavily on him.

Slovenia to ban transit of migrants as crisis spirals Posted: 08 Mar 2016 12:34 PM PST Slovenia announced Tuesday that it will refuse the transit of most migrants through its territory in a bid to seal off the Balkan route used by hundreds of thousands of people seeking a new life in Europe. The dramatic twist in Europe's tangled migrant crisis could set off a domino effect among Balkan states, with Serbia swiftly indicating it would follow Ljubljana's lead and Croatia and Macedonia also expected to follow suit. The moves to shut down the main route used by the vast influx of migrants hoping to find asylum or better economic prospects in northern Europe come barely a day after the EU and Turkey agreed a proposal aimed at easing the crisis.

How Corrupt Are Our Elected Officials? A New Study May Surprise You Posted: 08 Mar 2016 12:32 PM PST The phrase "public corruption" invokes images of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich or disgraced Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell. Often shaped by sensational media coverage of high level officials, public perception of corruption in the United States is that it is on the rise. The Executive Office of US Attorneys defines official corruption as criminal prosecution of public employees "for misconduct in, or misuse of office." Examples include bribery, conspiracy, embezzlement, false statements, and theft.

WFP says serious food shortages in Falluja, besieged by Iraqi army Posted: 08 Mar 2016 11:54 AM PST By Magdalena Mis LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Humanitarian disaster is looming in the western Iraq city of Falluja, an Islamic State stronghold under siege by security forces, where tens of thousands of people face food shortages, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday. There is no flour, rice, sugar or oil available in Falluja and the prices of the little food that is left have risen sharply, the agency quoted Falluja residents as telling it.

U.S. general wants to revive training of Syrians fighting Islamic State Posted: 08 Mar 2016 11:17 AM PST By Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top U.S. general has asked for permission to resurrect an effort to train Syrian opposition fighters for battles against Islamic State militants, but on a smaller scale than a previous program that failed and was scrapped last year. General Lloyd Austin, the head of Central Command, which oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East, told a Senate hearing on Tuesday that unlike the previous effort, which sought to recruit and train entire units of fighters outside the country to redeploy into Syria, the new program would focus on shorter-term training of smaller groups. The failure of the original program, which sought to train thousands of fighters, was an embarrassment for President Barack Obama, whose strategy depends on local partners combating Islamic State militants in both Syria and Iraq.

Two killed as rockets from Syria hit southern Turkish town: mayor Posted: 08 Mar 2016 11:00 AM PST A young child and another person were killed on Tuesday when rocket fire hit the Turkish town of Kilis from across the Syrian border, the mayor and security sources said, in an attack that Ankara blamed on Islamic State militants. Kilis, near Turkey's southern border with Syria, was hit by a series of eight rockets, with one landing near a hospital, mayor Hasan Kara said. Turkish security sources said two more people were injured.

Finland charges two Iraqi men with war crimes Posted: 08 Mar 2016 10:21 AM PST Two Iraqi men have been charged with war crimes by Finnish prosecutors, the Helsinki prosecutor's office said on Tuesday. The men are charged in connection with incidents that took place in Iraq in 2014 and 2015 and involved the desecration of bodies, according to Juha-Mikko Hamalainen, the Helsinki district prosecutor in charge. The charges were based on images and information found on the internet, Hamalainen said.

US commander in Africa says Libya is a failed state Posted: 08 Mar 2016 09:57 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — Libya is a failed state, according to the top U.S. general in Africa, who said that foreign fighters, weapons and illegal migrants are flowing through the oil-rich North African country, supplying the conflicts in Syria and Iraq with combatants and threatening U.S. allies.

From Africa, an unexpected lesson in how to topple terrorists Posted: 08 Mar 2016 09:54 AM PST After the self-proclaimed Islamic State swept from in Syria in 2014 and grabbed huge swaths of Iraq, counterterrorism experts said the group's control of significant territory would make it considerably more difficult to defeat. In Africa, the Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram has been losing control of a growing slice of the territory it held just a year ago. The Nigerian military is pushing the group out of towns and villages it once controlled, and the impact of drought and the group's own scorched-earth strategy is forcing uprooted Boko Haram militants to surrender.

The Latest: Turkey and Greece reaffirm deal on migrants Posted: 08 Mar 2016 09:48 AM PST IDOMENI, Greece (AP) — The Latest on continuing migration to Europe (all times local):

U.S. Vice President Biden speaks with Iraq's Abadi about attacks, aid: White House Posted: 08 Mar 2016 09:29 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden spoke with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Tuesday to express condolences for a suicide attack on Sunday that killed at least 60 people and wounded more than 70, the White House said. Biden also reviewed U.S. efforts to help Iraq secure aid to stabilize and rebuild areas taken back from Islamic State militants, including Ramadi, the White House said. It was the second call in a week between the two leaders to discuss aid. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton, Editing by Franklin Paul)

Israel, US in new row as Biden arrives for talks Posted: 08 Mar 2016 08:29 AM PST The rocky relationship between US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took a fresh hit Tuesday over a declined White House invitation as Vice President Joe Biden arrived for talks. Netanyahu's decision not to accept an invitation for talks with Obama in Washington later this month "surprised" the White House, which first learned of it through news reports. The Israeli premier's office defended the decision by saying Netanyahu did not want to interfere in US presidential primary elections currently taking place.

Mass return under EU-Turkish plan on refugees would contravene law: UNHCR Posted: 08 Mar 2016 07:56 AM PST By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations' refugee agency said on Tuesday proposals to send back refugees en masse from the European Union to Turkey would contravene their right to protection under European and international law. Turkey offered on Monday to take back all migrants who cross into Europe from its soil in return for more money, faster EU membership talks and quicker visa-free travel for Turks. "The collective expulsion of foreigners is prohibited under the European Convention of Human Rights," Vincent Cochetel, Europe regional director of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told a news briefing in Geneva.

Obama to disclose drone strike deaths: What will be included – and omitted? Posted: 08 Mar 2016 06:35 AM PST In an effort to expand government transparency, the United States will in the coming weeks publicly release the total number combatant and civilian casualties from US counter-terrorism strikes carried out abroad since 2009, the White House announced Monday. The assessment won't cover areas of "active hostilities," like Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan, but will focus on the shadowy regime of strikes the United States has launched against terrorist targets in other parts of the world, such as Libya, Somalia, and Yemen. The report comes after a 2013 pledge by Obama to provide more transparency in its drone program that has become a keystone in America's counterterrorism efforts, amid criticism that the program lacked transparency, and that the strikes kill vastly more people than US officials say.

Biden talks about 'nasty' US campaign during Mideast tour Posted: 08 Mar 2016 06:30 AM PST DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday that not even Ronald Reagan could win this year's Republican presidential nomination, as he lamented America's "petty, venal and mean" politics while addressing an Arab audience in a Gulf emirate ruled by sheikhs.

Ukrainians picket Russian embassy over detained pilot Posted: 08 Mar 2016 06:10 AM PST Hundreds of angry Ukrainians picketed Moscow's embassy in Kiev on Tuesday as global calls grew for the release of a hunger-striking military helicopter pilot on trial in Russia. Nadia Savchenko is on trial for alleged involvement in the death of two Russian state television journalists in a mortar attack that occurred two months after Ukraine's pro-Moscow eastern revolt broke out in April 2014. The 34-year-old Iraq war veteran faces up to 23 years in prison if convicted in a case that has drawn global attention and been attended by Western monitors concerned about Russia's record on human rights.

BRAC Is Back – but Will Congress Actually Close More Military Bases? Posted: 08 Mar 2016 06:00 AM PST The Pentagon's fiscal 2017 budget request marks the fifth year in a row defense officials have requested a Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round. Add to those parochial interests the fact that the last BRAC, conducted 2005, wound up costing the Pentagon around $35 billion to implement in order to achieve roughly $4 billion in future annual savings, putting the department in the red until at least 2018. A BRAC "has been an aspirational goal for several years now … the studies the department has done generally find 20 percent to 25 percent, sometimes more surplus infrastructure in most of our mission areas," Pentagon Comptroller Michael McCord said Monday during an event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

U.S., allies stage 24 strikes in Iraq, Syria against Islamic State Posted: 08 Mar 2016 05:03 AM PST The U.S.-led coalition on Monday targeted Islamic State in Iraq and Syria with two dozen strikes near 15 cities, the U.S. military said in a statement released on Tuesday detailing the latest round of daily attacks against the militant group. Seventeen strikes in Iraq hit eight tactical units as well as two headquarters and numerous fighting positions used by Islamic State, the Combined Joint Task Force said. In Syria, seven strikes near three cities hit four Islamic State tactical units as well as an improvised explosive device in a house and a gas and oil separation plant modular refinery, among other targets, according to the coalition.

Tunisia says Islamic State attacked border to control town Posted: 08 Mar 2016 04:56 AM PST By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid said on Tuesday Islamic State militants had carried out the huge raid on Ben Guerdan on Monday that killed 55 people in an attempt to control the town and expand their territory. Tunisia has become increasingly concerned about violence spilling across its frontier as Islamic State has expanded in Libya, taking advantage of the country's chaos to control the city of Sirte and setting up training camps there. Dozens of militants stormed through the border town of Ben Guerdan on Monday attacking army and police posts and triggering street battles during which troops killed 36 fighters.

Merkel says things moving in right direction on the migrant issue Posted: 08 Mar 2016 03:22 AM PST BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday things were moving in the right direction in Europe's efforts to tackle its migrant crisis after EU leaders reached a draft deal with Turkey aimed at stemming the flow of migrants to Europe. Things could be progressing faster "but overall all things are moving in the right direction," Merkel told German radio station SWR. She added that the EU should consider quotas for refugees from Iraq in addition to those from Syria. (Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Madeline Chambers)

Op-ed: Rep. Duckworth: Let's Refocus Efforts on Needs of Working Families Posted: 07 Mar 2016 09:01 PM PST America seeks to lead the world in freedom and equality, but it's clear we still have a lot of work to do as we reach toward full equality for women and all working families. Last year, I celebrated my first Mother's Day with my beautiful baby Abigail O'kalani, which means "gift from the heavens." She truly is a gift to me and Bryan, my husband, in no small part because, after losing my legs in Iraq, I didn't think I'd ever be able to be a mother.

US strikes hit Somalia training camp; drone report previewed Posted: 07 Mar 2016 07:26 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. airstrikes bombarded an al-Shabab training camp in Somalia Saturday, killing more than 150 militant fighters who were preparing to launch a large-scale attack, likely against African or U.S. personnel, the Pentagon said Monday.

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