Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• US veteran seeks asylum for Iraqi man who saved his life
• New report says health facilities attacked in 19 countries
• Syrian Kurds point finger at Western-backed opposition
• Gulf countries, Canada to cooperate in anti-IS fight
• Syrians are lining up to fight ISIS
• U.N. worried about Falluja civilians ahead of Iraqi offensive
• ICRC worried for civilians trapped in Iraq's Falluja
• What's Going On In Iraqi Offensive to Retake Fallujah From ISIS
• IS blasts in Syria regime heartland kill more than 148
• At least 41 killed in IS-claimed bombings on Yemeni forces
• The Latest: UN says 50,000 civilians in Fallujah at risk
• Vietnam Is Spending Billions on Arms, but Will It Buy American?
• The Battle Against ISIS in Fallujah Begins
• Leaders seek to defy sceptics at Istanbul humanitarian summit
• Iraqi forces clash with Islamic State near Falluja, bombard city center
• German anti-immigration party breaks off talks with Muslims
• EU police: religious extremism still top security threat
• Iraqi forces begin battle to retake Fallujah from ISIS
• U.S., allies stage 17 strikes in Iraq, Syria against Islamic State: statement
• Greece says to begin evacuating migrants camped at border within days
• Turkish Airlines plane in Istanbul evacuated after bomb hoax: spokesman
• Five things you need to know about Fallujah
• Three mortar shells land near Baghdad's Green Zone, no casualties
• Forces fighting for Iraq's Fallujah
• Hospitals a deadly target in Middle East conflicts
• Iraq bans import of poultry products from Italy, Missouri
• In Conflict Zones Worldwide, Medical Facilities and Personnel in 19 Countries Are Under Relentless Attack
• Iraq launches operation to retake IS-held city of Fallujah

US veteran seeks asylum for Iraqi man who saved his life Posted: 23 May 2016 03:08 PM PDT LOS ANGELES (AP) — After three military combat tours in war-torn Iraq, Chase Millsap returned home to get on with a civilian life. But there was one thing he couldn't do: leave a comrade behind, certainly not one who had saved his life.

New report says health facilities attacked in 19 countries Posted: 23 May 2016 02:38 PM PDT NEW YORK (AP) — A coalition of 30 health and humanitarian organizations says in a new report that deliberate or indiscriminate attacks have decimated health facilities, killed medical workers and patients, and robbed countless civilians of care in 19 countries during 2015 and the first three months of 2016.

Syrian Kurds point finger at Western-backed opposition Posted: 23 May 2016 02:33 PM PDT By John Irish PARIS (Reuters) - The main Western-backed Syrian opposition has gained little by demanding the fall of President Bashar al-Assad other than fuelling killings and the refugee crisis, a senior official from Syrian's northern Kurdish region said on Monday. Syrian Kurds and their allies are finalizing plans for an autonomous political federation in the northern part of the country. While talks to end the five-year conflict in Syria struggle, the plans are taking shape independently of United Nations-led diplomacy and creating facts on the ground in an area of the country known in Kurdish as Rojava.

Gulf countries, Canada to cooperate in anti-IS fight Posted: 23 May 2016 02:09 PM PDT Gulf Arab foreign ministers agreed with their Canadian counterpart Monday to strengthen "cooperation" in the fight against the Islamic State group and other jihadist organisations, they said in a statement. "The campaign against Daesh (an Arabic acronym for IS) and other terrorist organisations is not religious or linked to a religion or sect but rather a war on terror," they added in a statement.

Syrians are lining up to fight ISIS Posted: 23 May 2016 02:04 PM PDT Following victories against the Islamic State, including the recapture of al-Shaddadah in northeast Syria, the number of Arabs who have volunteered to fight this spring has outpaced American military advisers' capacity to train them. News of this groundswell of volunteers could foreshadow the decline of ISIS in Syria and Iraq as well, as Kurds and other ethnic groups form militias to rid their homes of the Islamic State, and as the United States becomes further involved in the war. Recommended: How much do you know about the Islamic State?

U.N. worried about Falluja civilians ahead of Iraqi offensive Posted: 23 May 2016 01:50 PM PDT The United Nations expressed concern about some 50,000 people still in Falluja as Iraqi government forces clashed with Islamic State militants near the city, a U.N. spokesman said on Monday. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Sunday announced the launching of an offensive to retake the Islamic State stronghold of Falluja after the military told residents to leave before fighting started. "We're very concerned about the fate of the civilians that remain in Falluja as the military operations are undertaken," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

ICRC worried for civilians trapped in Iraq's Falluja Posted: 23 May 2016 01:50 PM PDT Tens of thousands of civilians are trapped in Falluja, a city west of Baghdad that Iraqi forces are trying to recapture from Islamic State, with limited access to food, water and healthcare, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Monday. "People of Falluja have already suffered enormously as a result of relentless fighting in the area," the ICRC's head of delegation in Iraq, Katharina Ritz, said in a statement. Falluja was the first Iraqi city to fall to Islamic State, in January 2014.

What's Going On In Iraqi Offensive to Retake Fallujah From ISIS Posted: 23 May 2016 01:20 PM PDT The Fallujah military operation was announced late Sunday night by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi who said Iraqi forces are "approaching a moment of great victory" against ISIS in the wake of recent victories in the far western town of Rutbah and other towns in the Euphrates River Valley. WHAT IS THE IRAQI MILITARY DOING IN FALLUJAH? Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said Monday that the Iraqi military had begun to conduct "shaping operations" on the outside of Fallujah and had not entered the city proper.

IS blasts in Syria regime heartland kill more than 148 Posted: 23 May 2016 12:39 PM PDT More than 148 people were killed Monday in bombings claimed by the Islamic State group in northwestern Syria, the deadliest attacks to date in the regime's coastal heartland. Seven near-simultaneous explosions targeted bus stations, hospitals and other civilian sites in the seaside cities of Jableh and Tartus, which until now had been relatively insulated from Syria's five-year war. The attacks on strongholds of President Bashar al-Assad's regime came as IS faces mounting pressure in Syria and neighbouring Iraq, where a major offensive to retake the jihadist-held city of Fallujah is underway.

At least 41 killed in IS-claimed bombings on Yemeni forces Posted: 23 May 2016 12:22 PM PDT Twin bombings claimed by the Islamic State group hit Yemeni forces in Aden on Monday, killing at least 41 people in the latest of a spate of attacks in the southern city. The attacks in Aden -- which is serving as the temporary government headquarters after rebels forced authorities from the capital -- follow a major military operation against jihadists in parts of southern and southeastern Yemen. Backed by a Saudi-led coalition, forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi are battling both Sunni extremists and Iran-backed Shiite rebels.

The Latest: UN says 50,000 civilians in Fallujah at risk Posted: 23 May 2016 12:03 PM PDT DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The Latest on a violent day in the Middle East, with deadly bombings in Syria and Yemen and the start of an Iraqi government offensive to retake the city of Fallujah from the Islamic State group (all times local):

Vietnam Is Spending Billions on Arms, but Will It Buy American? Posted: 23 May 2016 11:36 AM PDT The decision by the United States to lift the decades-old arms embargo on Vietnam doesn't mean that Hanoi will be making a mad dash to buy American-made weapons. In fact, President Obama, in announcing the historic move at a joint press conference with the Vietnamese president, Tran Dai Quang, went out of his way to stress that the Cold War enemy wouldn't suddenly be awash in the latest military technology. "Every sale that we make to everybody is viewed as a particular transaction, and we examine what's appropriate and what's not, and there's some very close allies of ours where we may not make a particular sale until we have a better sense of how that piece of equipment may end up being used," Obama said.

The Battle Against ISIS in Fallujah Begins Posted: 23 May 2016 11:04 AM PDT Iraqi government forces, backed by U.S. and coalition airstrikes, have launched a military offensive to recapture Fallujah from Islamic State militants who overran the Iraqi city more than two years ago.

Leaders seek to defy sceptics at Istanbul humanitarian summit Posted: 23 May 2016 10:41 AM PDT Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday the burden of handling the world's crises should be better shared, as leaders and aid groups sought to defy sceptics to find a breakthrough at an unprecedented aid summit in Istanbul. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon gathered over 60 heads of state and government with top NGOs, aiming to better keep conflicts from erupting and ensure legal retribution for those guilty of humanitarian crimes. Celebrity stardust was sprinkled by actors Daniel Craig, Forest Whitaker and Sean Penn, while top NGOs called for a wholesale reform of a now outdated humanitarian system.

Iraqi forces clash with Islamic State near Falluja, bombard city center Posted: 23 May 2016 10:10 AM PDT By Ahmed Rasheed and Stephen Kalin BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi government forces fought Islamic State militants near Falluja on Monday and bombarded central districts at the outset of an offensive to retake the longtime jihadist stronghold on the western approaches to the capital Baghdad. Some of the first direct clashes occurred in the area of al-Hayakil on Falluja's southern outskirts, a resident said. Iraqi troops also approached the northern suburb of Garma, the top municipal official there said, to clear out militants before turning their attention toward the city center.

German anti-immigration party breaks off talks with Muslims Posted: 23 May 2016 09:28 AM PDT The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) broke off talks on Monday with representatives of the Muslim community that had been intended to ease tensions after the party declared Islam incompatible with the German constitution. AfD leader Frauke Perry said she had walked out of the meeting after a prominent German Muslim refused to retract a comment comparing the AfD with Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. Last month Aiman Mazyek, leader of the Central Council of Muslims that organized Monday's talks, likened the AfD's stance towards Muslims to that of the Nazis toward Jews in the 1930s after Perry's party called for a ban on minarets and burqas.

EU police: religious extremism still top security threat Posted: 23 May 2016 08:48 AM PDT BRUSSELS (AP) — A top European Union police official says that despite extensive government action, violent religious-driven extremism remains the "top threat to the security" of the 28-nation bloc and its half billion citizens.

Iraqi forces begin battle to retake Fallujah from ISIS Posted: 23 May 2016 08:45 AM PDT Fallujah, about 30 miles west of Baghdad, has a recent history of heavy combat. The city served as the backdrop for two major American assaults in 2004 during the American Iraq War – assaults where US troops saw some of the fiercest fighting since the Vietnam war. In January 2014 Fallujah was taken by anti-government fighters and established as a stronghold for the Islamic State.

U.S., allies stage 17 strikes in Iraq, Syria against Islamic State: statement Posted: 23 May 2016 08:43 AM PDT The United States and its allies conducted 17 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria on Sunday, the coalition leading the operations said. In a statement released on Monday, the Combined Joint Task Force said seven strikes near four cities in Syria hit two tactical units, a weapons storage facility and destroyed two vehicles, a rocket rail, an improvised explosives facility and an oil pump-jack. In Iraq, 10 strikes near five cities hit a communications control center, suppressed a heavy machine gun position and destroyed multiple fighting positions, among other targets, the statement said.

Greece says to begin evacuating migrants camped at border within days Posted: 23 May 2016 07:55 AM PDT Greece will begin in the coming days to evacuate a makeshift camp on its northern border with Macedonia where thousands of migrants and refugees have been stranded in dire conditions for months, the government said on Monday. The sprawling camp in a field near the Greek town of Idomeni sprang up in February after border shutdowns across the Balkans left the people stranded there. The migrants, mostly from conflict zones in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, have refused to move despite having to sleep in the open in very difficult conditions or being tear-gassed by Macedonian police.

Turkish Airlines plane in Istanbul evacuated after bomb hoax: spokesman Posted: 23 May 2016 07:46 AM PDT A Turkish Airlines aircraft at Istanbul's main airport was evacuated and searched after a note threatening a bomb attack was found on board on Monday, an airline spokesman said, although it later turned out to be a hoax. All 134 people, including the crew, who had been on board the flight from Ataturk Airport to the central Turkish city of Kayseri had been evacuated, the spokesman said. Turkey has suffered a series of suicide bombings in its cities this year, including two attacks in tourist areas of Istanbul blamed on Islamic State and two car bombings in the capital, Ankara, which were claimed by a Kurdish militant group.

Five things you need to know about Fallujah Posted: 23 May 2016 07:35 AM PDT Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Monday announced the start of an operation to retake Fallujah, a city west of Baghdad that looms large in the Islamic State group's mythology. Fallujah was once a small trading post on the Euphrates River, 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad, but its aura in modern Iraq belies its relatively modest size. Sunni tribes were always powerful in Fallujah, whose reputation as a troublesome city predates the 2003 US invasion.

Three mortar shells land near Baghdad's Green Zone, no casualties Posted: 23 May 2016 03:23 AM PDT Three mortars shells landed near Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone overnight, the first such attack close to the cluster of embassies and government buildings in more than a year, authorities said. No group claimed responsibility for the assault which caused no casualties and coincided with an announcement of a government offensive to dislodge Islamic State from the city of Falluja, just west of the capital. The rounds were fired from al-Qanat street, in eastern Baghdad, and fell in the Karrada district, less than 1km (mile) from the Green Zone, on the opposite side of the Tigris river, according to a military statement and a police officer.

Forces fighting for Iraq's Fallujah Posted: 23 May 2016 01:27 AM PDT Baghdad (AFP) - Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has announced the start of a long-awaited operation to retake Fallujah, one of two cities in the country still held by the Islamic State group.

Hospitals a deadly target in Middle East conflicts Posted: 23 May 2016 01:03 AM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — As one of the few pediatricians remaining in the Syrian city of Aleppo, Dr. Mohammed Wassim Maaz offered hope to tens of thousands of children and their parents trapped in the horror and misery of the five-year civil war. But last month, an airstrike widely believed to have been carried out by the Syrian government destroyed the al Quds hospital where he worked, killing Maaz and dozens of colleagues, patients and other civilians.

Iraq bans import of poultry products from Italy, Missouri Posted: 23 May 2016 12:36 AM PDT Iraq has extended a ban on live and frozen poultry product imports to include Italy and the U.S. state of Missouri due to concerns over bird flu, a government statement said on Monday. Iraq announced a ban on French imports of poultry products in December and extended the ban in January to cover two dozen countries.

In Conflict Zones Worldwide, Medical Facilities and Personnel in 19 Countries Are Under Relentless Attack Posted: 22 May 2016 11:00 PM PDT WASHINGTON, May 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In conflict zones around the world, health care workers and facilities are under relentless attack, according to a new report "No Protection, No Respect" from the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition. The coalition of more than 30 nongovernmental organizations found that during 2015 and the first three months of 2016, deliberate or indiscriminate strikes on health care have killed medical workers and patients, decimated medical infrastructure and robbed countless civilians of vital medical care in 19 countries around the world. The report also found that, in many instances, parties to conflicts failed to take required steps to avoid harm to medical facilities, staff and patients, and obstructed access to health care.

Iraq launches operation to retake IS-held city of Fallujah Posted: 22 May 2016 05:04 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the beginning of military operations to retake the Islamic State-held held city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, in a televised address on Sunday night.

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