Yahoo! News: Iraq

---

• Boko Haram to increase cooperation if Islamic State boosts Libya presence: UK
• More help needed to defeat Boko Haram, rebuild, summit told
• Barcelona leaves it late to win 2nd straight title in Spain
• U.S., allies conduct 22 strikes against Islamic State: U.S. military
• Syrian forces retake Deir al-Zor hospital after 'major' Islamic State offensive
• Trade resumes at main Tunisia-Libya crossing: officials
• Suicide bombers attack town outside Baghdad, kill 6 people
• IRAQ BOMBINGS
• IS seizes hospital in advance on Syrian government forces
• Iraqi leader says political crisis helps Islamic State attack
• Hezbollah blames rebel shelling for death of top commander in Syria
• Turkish warplanes pound Kurdish rebels in the southeast
• Turkish war planes destroy PKK targets in Turkey, northern Iraq: Anadolu
• Boko Haram may be sending fighters to Islamic State in Libya - US officials
• Another Syria peace push, but has US put too much faith in Russia?
• Resentment over 1916 deal still drives Turkey foreign policy
• UN envoy warns that Hezbollah expansion can threaten Lebanon
• One Turkish soldier, two PKK militants killed in clashes: army
• IS kills at least five in Iraq suicide raid

Boko Haram to increase cooperation if Islamic State boosts Libya presence: UK Posted: 14 May 2016 03:09 PM PDT By Ulf Laessing ABUJA (Reuters) - Boko Haram jihadists are likely to step up cooperation with Islamic State should the latter extremist group gain a stronger foothold in Libya, a senior British official said on Saturday. Boko Haram, which has been waging a seven-year insurgency in northern Nigeria, last year pledged loyalty to Islamic State. Little is known about the extent of cooperation.

More help needed to defeat Boko Haram, rebuild, summit told Posted: 14 May 2016 02:00 PM PDT Regional and Western powers were on Saturday urged to do more to stop the threat from Boko Haram, as the UN voiced concern about the militants' ties to the Islamic State group and threat to African security. Nigeria invited leaders of its neighbours Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger to Abuja, whose troops will be deployed as part of a much-delayed 8,500-member regional force to combat the Islamists. "We must sustain this fight until evil is defeated and good prevails," he told the gathering, calling for countries affected to win the "hearts and minds of those terrorised by Boko Haram".

Barcelona leaves it late to win 2nd straight title in Spain Posted: 14 May 2016 01:41 PM PDT BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona left it late — very late — but finally rescued its season by pulling off five straight victories to clinch its second straight Spanish league title on Saturday.

U.S., allies conduct 22 strikes against Islamic State: U.S. military Posted: 14 May 2016 12:40 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and its allies targeted Islamic State militants in Iraq with 17 strikes on Friday and five in Syria, the U.S. military said on Saturday. Four of the strikes in Iraq were near Ar Rutbah, hitting an Islamic State tactical unit and staging facility. In Syria, four strikes hit four Islamic State tactical units near Mar'a. (Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Syrian forces retake Deir al-Zor hospital after 'major' Islamic State offensive Posted: 14 May 2016 12:40 PM PDT Syrian government forces retook a hospital in Deir al-Zor after Islamic State attacked it on Saturday following a dawn offensive by the militants on the besieged eastern Syrian city, a war monitor and state media said. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors Syria's five-year-long war, said Islamic State had killed at least 35 members of the Syrian armed forces and detained some medical staff from the hospital. The fighting in and around the hospital also killed at least 24 Islamic State fighters, the Observatory said.

Trade resumes at main Tunisia-Libya crossing: officials Posted: 14 May 2016 11:47 AM PDT Border traffic between Tunisia and Libya resumed on Saturday after the two countries reached a deal to lift a trade blockade at the main frontier crossing following angry street protests. The breakthrough came after an agreement was reached late Friday on customs duties for goods passing through Ras Jedir, local governor Tahar Matmati said. The closure sparked demonstrations on the Tunisian side and a strike on Wednesday in the impoverished town of Ben Guerdane, where the economy is heavily dependent upon trade with Libya, both legal and contraband.

Suicide bombers attack town outside Baghdad, kill 6 people Posted: 14 May 2016 10:36 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — More than a dozen suicide bombers attacked a residential and government complex outside Baghdad on Saturday, killing at least six people, an official said.

IRAQ BOMBINGS Posted: 14 May 2016 09:58 AM PDT Map locates areas in and near Baghdad where there have been deadly bombings in the past week; 2c x 3 1/4 inches; 96.3 mm x 82 mm;

IS seizes hospital in advance on Syrian government forces Posted: 14 May 2016 08:58 AM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — The Islamic State group launched an offensive against government forces in eastern Syria on Saturday and captured several buildings, including a hospital, in clashes that left more than two dozen people dead on both sides.

Iraqi leader says political crisis helps Islamic State attack Posted: 14 May 2016 07:51 AM PDT By Stephen Kalin BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A political crisis in Iraq is hampering the fight against Islamic State, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Saturday after some of the bloodiest attacks on Baghdad this year. "The political conflict among politicians and their impact on the brave security forces permits acts of terrorism to occur," he said. Hours earlier, an attack by Islamic State on a town near Baghdad killed five members of the security forces and wounded 13.

Hezbollah blames rebel shelling for death of top commander in Syria Posted: 14 May 2016 04:30 AM PDT By Lisa Barrington BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hezbollah said on Saturday its top military commander, whose death it announced on Friday, was killed in Syria by Sunni Islamist artillery fire and not by an Israeli air strike as one member of the Lebanese Shi'ite movement had said. "Investigations have showed that the explosion, which targeted one of our bases near Damascus International Airport, and which led to the martyrdom of commander Mustafa Badreddine, was the result of artillery bombardment carried out by takfiri (hardline Sunni) groups in the area," Hezbollah said in a statement. The Shi'ite Muslim group is fighting in Syria, backing President Bashar al-Assad against a range of Sunni groups including Islamic State and the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front.

Turkish warplanes pound Kurdish rebels in the southeast Posted: 14 May 2016 02:36 AM PDT ISTANBUL (AP) — The Turkish military says its fighter jets have carried out nine airstrikes against Kurdish rebels in the southeast of the country and northern Iraq.

Turkish war planes destroy PKK targets in Turkey, northern Iraq: Anadolu Posted: 14 May 2016 01:50 AM PDT ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish war planes destroyed 98 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant targets in Turkey and northern Iraq in nine air strikes on Friday, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Saturday, citing the Turkish military. Turkey has been carrying out regular attacks on PKK camps and related targets in the mountainous region of northern Iraq near the Turkish border since a ceasefire with the PKK collapsed in July last year. (Reporting by Seda Sezer; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Boko Haram may be sending fighters to Islamic State in Libya - US officials Posted: 14 May 2016 01:08 AM PDT By Ulf Laessing ABUJA (Reuters) - There are signs that Nigeria's Boko Haram jihadists are sending fighters to join Islamic State in Libya, and of increased cooperation between the two groups, a senior U.S. official said on Friday. Nigeria has asked the United States to sell it aircraft to fight Boko Haram, which has been waging a seven-year insurgency in the north and last year pledged loyalty to Islamic State, which is active in Syria, Iraq and Libya.

Another Syria peace push, but has US put too much faith in Russia? Posted: 13 May 2016 10:22 PM PDT First a ceasefire in Syria, then aid and then -- who knows -- perhaps a political transition? Don't bet on it, analysts warn, saying Washington has put too much faith in Moscow. Efforts to end Syria's brutal five-year civil war may hang by a thread, but Washington's top diplomat will once again throw himself into the fray.

Resentment over 1916 deal still drives Turkey foreign policy Posted: 13 May 2016 09:20 PM PDT The May 1916 accord, signed by two British and French diplomats as defeat began to loom in World War I for Germany and its allies, created spheres of influence in the Ottoman-ruled Middle East which to a large extent helped define the borders of modern states including Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Israel. After the founding of the Turkish Republic by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923, the state stepped back from Ottoman imperialism, focusing on building a strong nation within its own borders.

UN envoy warns that Hezbollah expansion can threaten Lebanon Posted: 13 May 2016 06:09 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Hezbollah's involvement in the conflicts in Syria and more recently Iraq risks a spillover of sectarian tensions into Lebanon where the Islamic State extremist group and the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front are reported to be expanding, a U.N. envoy warned Friday.

One Turkish soldier, two PKK militants killed in clashes: army Posted: 13 May 2016 05:40 PM PDT One soldier and two Kurdish rebels were killed in clashes on Saturday in Turkey's restive southeast, the Turkish army said. Two soldiers were also wounded in the fighting in the Daglica region of Hakkari province near the Iraqi border, the army said on its website. "Our hero comrade fell martyr during the armed clashes with the terrorists," the army said, referring to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) listed as a terror group by Turkey and its Western allies.

IS kills at least five in Iraq suicide raid Posted: 13 May 2016 05:04 PM PDT The Islamic State group infiltrated a town in Iraq's Anbar province with several fighters wearing suicide belts Saturday, in a raid that killed at least five people, security officials said. The jihadist attackers entered Amriyat al-Fallujah, a government-held town 50 kilometres (30 miles) southwest of Baghdad and a key base for any operation against the IS-controlled city of Fallujah, further north. "Eight suicide bombers snuck into the city, the security forces succeeded to repel the attack by killing five of them," Major General Ismail al-Mahalawi, who heads Anbar Operations Command, told AFP.

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