Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Canada parliament votes to take in Yazidi refugees
• UN chief says including women in peace negotiations pays off
• Ryan urges Pentagon to suspend collection of Guard bonuses
• The Latest: Pentagon says only 6,500 soldiers in bonus snafu
• In Pakistan attack, hints of a new ISIS foothold
• On Trump, Sen. McConnell has gone from quiet to mum
• Oil ends down; U.S. crude drops further below $50 on API data
• World markets lose steam, oil falls; US earnings mixed
• US says coalition laying groundwork to retake Raqqa from IS
• With every turn of a wrench, Jordanian woman breaks barriers
• Iraq battles IS in western town, far from Mosul
• U.S. says to launch campaign on Raqqa before Mosul complete
• Coalition huddles as forces inch towards Mosul
• Iraqi special forces evacuate villages close to Mosul
• Mosul Today: Iraq battles IS far from Mosul front lines
• First American killed in Mosul assault was in navy
• The Latest: Iraq PM offers new details of assault on town
• Russia: Halt of airstrikes on Aleppo to continue
• Obama to head to Greece, Germany, Peru in mid-November: W. House
• 'Groundwork' being laid for 'isolation' of Raqa: US
• The Latest: EU to prolong ID checks in 5 countries
• 'Caliphate' survivors recount fleeing clutches of IS
• Iraqi army's elite force pauses advance near Mosul
• U.N. concerned about 'collective punishment' of Arabs in Kirkuk
• Is the attack in Pakistan the work of ISIS?
• U.N. gets reports of massacres by Islamic State around Mosul
• Islamic State claims attack on Pakistan police academy, 59 dead
• Threatened in Mosul, Islamic State uses alternative tactics
• Hollande urges vigilance over jihadists returning from Iraq
• NATO says Russian battle group may be used against Aleppo civilians
• Moscow denies Russian or Syrian air strikes on Aleppo in past week
• Some Indonesians 'joining pro-Islamic State groups in Philippines'
• Displaced Sunnis brace to join fight for Mosul
• Turkey's post-coup emergency rule led to torture, abuse: rights group
• Sunni Arabs forced to leave Kirkuk after Islamic State attack, residents say
• Turkey could carry out ground operations against PKK in Iraq - foreign minister
• Clinton slams Trump for comments on offensive against Islamic State
• Today in History

Canada parliament votes to take in Yazidi refugees Posted: 25 Oct 2016 04:45 PM PDT Canada's parliament adopted Tuesday an opposition motion to resettle Yazidi refugees within four months, while declaring IS group's persecution of Yazidis near the Syrian border in northern Iraq a genocide. Iraqi activist Nadia Murad was on hand for the unanimous vote in the House of Commons. The government said it is still sorting out a plan for the airlift and does not yet know how many Yazidi refugees Canada will take in over the 120-day period.

UN chief says including women in peace negotiations pays off Posted: 25 Oct 2016 04:14 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Making sure women are a key part of negotiations to end conflicts pays off in longer-lasting peace deals, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday.

Ryan urges Pentagon to suspend collection of Guard bonuses Posted: 25 Oct 2016 04:13 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday called for the Pentagon to immediately suspend efforts to recover enlistment bonuses paid to thousands of soldiers in California, even as the Pentagon said late Tuesday the number of soldiers affected was smaller than first believed.

The Latest: Pentagon says only 6,500 soldiers in bonus snafu Posted: 25 Oct 2016 03:30 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on enlistment bonuses the Pentagon is ordering California National Guard soldiers to repay (all times local):

In Pakistan attack, hints of a new ISIS foothold Posted: 25 Oct 2016 03:16 PM PDT Terrorist attacks in Pakistan were down by half over the year before. The spike is raising fresh questions over whether Pakistan's longtime support for militants that target India and Afghanistan is coming home to roost. "The government is fighting terrorism, and certainly the US and many others are rooting for Pakistan to succeed in these efforts," says Lisa Curtis, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center in Washington.

On Trump, Sen. McConnell has gone from quiet to mum Posted: 25 Oct 2016 03:08 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has never had much to say about Donald Trump. But lately, he has fallen completely silent.

Oil ends down; U.S. crude drops further below $50 on API data Posted: 25 Oct 2016 02:46 PM PDT Oil settled down on Tuesday, then U.S. crude slid further below $50 a barrel in post-settlement trade after an industry group reported that U.S. oil inventories grew nearly three times as much as forecast. The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported that U.S. crude stocks rose by 4.8 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 21 versus a 1.7-million barrel build forecast by analysts polled by Reuters.

World markets lose steam, oil falls; US earnings mixed Posted: 25 Oct 2016 02:29 PM PDT New York (AFP) - Global stock markets lost steam Tuesday amid a deluge of US corporate earnings reports showing mixed results, as well as solid German economic data, while oil dropped below the psychological $50 level.

US says coalition laying groundwork to retake Raqqa from IS Posted: 25 Oct 2016 02:00 PM PDT PARIS (AP) — Even as it provides support for Iraq's battle to retake Mosul, the U.S. led-coalition is laying the groundwork to push Islamic State militants out of the Syrian city of Raqqa, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Tuesday.

With every turn of a wrench, Jordanian woman breaks barriers Posted: 25 Oct 2016 01:48 PM PDT It is graduation day, and Maryam Mutlaq is celebrating her transformation from stay-at-home mom to licensed plumber. The training took 18 months. Now, Mutlaq and her 29 course mates — all veiled, most ...

Iraq battles IS in western town, far from Mosul Posted: 25 Oct 2016 12:57 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi forces battled Islamic State fighters for a third day in a remote western town far from Mosul on Tuesday, but the U.S.-led coalition insisted the latest in a series of "spoiler attacks" had not forced it to divert resources from the fight to retake Iraq's second-largest city.

U.S. says to launch campaign on Raqqa before Mosul complete Posted: 25 Oct 2016 12:54 PM PDT By Phil Stewart and Marine Pennetier PARIS (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday made its strongest indication yet that the battle to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from Islamic State could be fast approaching, saying it would "overlap" with an already unfolding assault in Iraq to seize the city of Mosul. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, speaking to reporters after meeting allies in Paris, did not disclose the timing of the Raqqa campaign but said preparations were on track. "Yes, there will be overlap (in the Mosul and Raqqa campaigns) and that's part of our plan and we are prepared for that," Carter said after a gathering of 13 countries in the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State.

Coalition huddles as forces inch towards Mosul Posted: 25 Oct 2016 12:31 PM PDT Iraqi forces were inching to within striking distance of eastern Mosul Tuesday as coalition defence chiefs gathered in Paris agreed to also take on the jihadists' Syrian bastion of Raqa. With the Mosul battle in its second week, French President Francois Hollande called for the US-led coalition against the Islamic State group to prepare for the aftermath and the next stages of the campaign against the jihadists. The United Nations said it had received reports of a new series of atrocities by the jihadists as troops close in on its last major urban stronghold in Iraq.

Iraqi special forces evacuate villages close to Mosul Posted: 25 Oct 2016 12:07 PM PDT Al-Khazir (Irak) (AFP) - The line of cars flying white flags kept on coming Tuesday as Iraqi forces began to evacuate residents of the last villages near the Islamic State group bastion of Mosul. Units of Iraq's elite counter-terrorism force were just half a dozen kilometres (four miles) from Mosul, where IS two years ago proclaimed its "caliphate" and which is now being targeted by Kurdish and Iraqi forces backed by the international coalition. The advance on Mosul, Iraq's second city, has been rapid so far.

Mosul Today: Iraq battles IS far from Mosul front lines Posted: 25 Oct 2016 11:56 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi forces battled Islamic State militants for a third day on Tuesday in a remote western town far from the Mosul offensive, but the U.S.-led coalition said the militants have not succeeded in diverting resources from the fight to retake Iraq's second largest city.

First American killed in Mosul assault was in navy Posted: 25 Oct 2016 10:45 AM PDT The first American killed during Iraq's offensive to retake Mosul was a member of the navy hit by a bomb blast near the city, the US-led anti-jihadist coalition said Tuesday. Chief Petty Officer Jason Finan was the fourth member of the US military to be killed in Iraq by the Islamic State jihadist group, which overran large parts of the country, including Mosul, in June 2014. Finan died on Thursday "from wounds sustained during an improvised explosive device blast near Bashiqa," the coalition said in a statement, referring to an area northeast of Mosul.

The Latest: Iraq PM offers new details of assault on town Posted: 25 Oct 2016 10:33 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — The Latest on the developments in Iraq where an operation by Iraqi forces and their allies to retake the city of Mosul from Islamic State militants is no in its second week (all times local):

Russia: Halt of airstrikes on Aleppo to continue Posted: 25 Oct 2016 10:25 AM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — The Russian military said Tuesday the halt of Russian and Syrian air strikes, now in its seventh day, on besieged eastern parts of the city of Aleppo will continue and humanitarian corridors will remain open even as the Syrian army has unleashed a new offensive on the rebel-held neighborhoods.

Obama to head to Greece, Germany, Peru in mid-November: W. House Posted: 25 Oct 2016 10:19 AM PDT US President Barack Obama will head to Greece, Germany and Peru next month for what could be his final trip abroad before leaving the White House in January, his office said Tuesday. The November 14-21 trip -- which will fall between the November 8 election to choose his successor and Inauguration Day on January 20 -- will aim to show Obama's engagement with both his transatlantic and Asia-Pacific partners. Obama will arrive in Greece on November 15 for talks focused on the country's efforts to right its struggling economy and to hail the "remarkable generosity" shown by Athens towards the human sea of migrants arriving on its shores, the White House said.

'Groundwork' being laid for 'isolation' of Raqa: US Posted: 25 Oct 2016 09:59 AM PDT The US-led coalition is "laying the groundwork" for the "isolation" of Raqa, the Islamic State group stronghold in Syria, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said Tuesday. "We have already begun laying the groundwork for our partners to commence the isolation of Raqa," Carter said after meeting coalition defence ministers in Paris to discuss the aftermath of the planned capture of Mosul from IS in Iraq. Carter was among a dozen ministers from coalition members attending the talks, which come a week after Iraqi forces backed by Kurdish fighters launched a major operation to retake Mosul, Iraq's second-biggest city.

The Latest: EU to prolong ID checks in 5 countries Posted: 25 Oct 2016 09:06 AM PDT PARIS (AP) — The Latest on Europe's response to the inflow of asylum-seekers and migrants (all times local):

'Caliphate' survivors recount fleeing clutches of IS Posted: 25 Oct 2016 09:03 AM PDT Their escape from jihadist rule was gruelling and their new living conditions hardly better, but the Iraqis fleeing south of Mosul are only the first of a feared massive exodus. Qayyarah is not only the main staging base for the huge offensive Iraqi forces launched to retake Mosul on October 17 -- it is also where displaced families in the area are converging. "We walked all night to escape the jihadists and just before arriving here, our neighbours were killed in a bomb blast," said Umm Mahmud, a woman from Hawijah.

Iraqi army's elite force pauses advance near Mosul Posted: 25 Oct 2016 08:59 AM PDT By Stephen Kalin and Maher Chmaytelli EAST OF MOSUL/BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) - An elite unit of the Iraqi army paused its week-long advance on Mosul as it approached the city's eastern edge on Tuesday, waiting for other U.S.-backed forces to close in on Islamic State's last major urban stronghold in Iraq. On the ninth day of the offensive on Mosul, government forces and allied Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are still fighting their way towards the outer limits of the northern city, in the early stages of an assault which could become the biggest military operation in Iraq in over a decade. The first force to get near to Mosul, advancing to within two kilometers (just over a mile) of Iraq's second largest city, was the elite U.S.-trained Counter Terrorism Service (CTS).

U.N. concerned about 'collective punishment' of Arabs in Kirkuk Posted: 25 Oct 2016 08:59 AM PDT By Samia Nakhoul and Michael Georgy ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - The United Nations voiced concern on Tuesday that Kurdish authorities had forced 250 Sunni Arab families to leave Kirkuk after an Islamic State attack on the Kurdish-controlled city, saying the move could be seen as collective punishment. Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, also said that the United Nations expects a mass exodus from Mosul - perhaps within the next few days - as Iraqi army prepares to storm the northern Iraqi city which is still home to over a million people. In the worst case scenario, Grande said it was also possible that Islamic State fighters who have controlled Mosul for more than two years could resort to "rudimentary chemical weapons" to hold back the impending assault.

Is the attack in Pakistan the work of ISIS? Posted: 25 Oct 2016 08:11 AM PDT At least 60 people are reported dead and 120 injured in Pakistan after militants assaulted a police training academy outside of the southwestern city of Quetta on Monday night. Pakistani officials initially attributed the attack to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Taliban-affiliated jihadist group that is one of several operating in remote areas along the border with Afghanistan. Two Pakistani officials told The Washington Post that the three men were either based on the Afghan side of the border or had been in contact with militants there.

U.N. gets reports of massacres by Islamic State around Mosul Posted: 25 Oct 2016 08:03 AM PDT By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - Islamic State fighters have reportedly massacred scores of people around its Iraq stronghold of Mosul in the past week, U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said on Tuesday, citing preliminary information from sources in the area. On Sunday, IS reportedly killed 50 former police officers being held in a building outside Mosul, and last Thursday Iraqi security forces discovered the bodies of 70 civilians in houses in Tuloul Naser village south of Mosul, Colville said. In Safina village, about 45 km (30 miles) south of Mosul, 15 civilians were killed and their bodies thrown into the river in an attempt to spread fear, and six men, apparently relatives of a tribal leader fighting against IS, were tied to a vehicle and dragged around the village.

Islamic State claims attack on Pakistan police academy, 59 dead Posted: 25 Oct 2016 07:23 AM PDT By Gul Yusufzai QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Militant group Islamic State said on Tuesday that fighters loyal to its movement attacked a police training college in Quetta in southwest Pakistan in a raid that officials said killed 59 people and wounded more than 100. Pakistani authorities have blamed another militant group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), for the late-Monday siege, though the Islamic State claim included photographs of three alleged attackers.

Threatened in Mosul, Islamic State uses alternative tactics Posted: 25 Oct 2016 06:27 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Dozens of Islamic State fighters struck at dawn, storming government and security compounds in and around the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk last week, in a coordinated assault more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the front lines of the Mosul offensive.

Hollande urges vigilance over jihadists returning from Iraq Posted: 25 Oct 2016 06:24 AM PDT Paris (AFP) - French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday urged the US-led coalition backing the offensive against Islamic State jihadists in Mosul to prepare for the aftermath of the city's fall, including returning fighters.

NATO says Russian battle group may be used against Aleppo civilians Posted: 25 Oct 2016 05:12 AM PDT By Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Russian warships heading for Syria could be used to target civilians in the besieged city of Aleppo, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned on Tuesday, calling on Moscow to implement a lasting ceasefire. NATO is monitoring the movement of the eight-strong carrier battle group from northern Russia towards Gibraltar en route to the eastern Mediterranean, where alliance officials fear it will launch fighter bombers to hit northwestern Syria early in November. "The battle group may be used to increase Russia's ability to take part in combat operations over Syria and to conduct even more air strikes against Aleppo," Stoltenberg said.

Moscow denies Russian or Syrian air strikes on Aleppo in past week Posted: 25 Oct 2016 05:03 AM PDT By Andrew Osborn and Lisa Barrington MOSCOW/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Russia said on Tuesday Russian and Syrian military planes had not launched air strikes on Aleppo since Moscow said it was suspending bombing seven days ago, contradicting a monitor who says air strikes on some areas resumed on Saturday. Defense ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said Russian and Syrian planes had not even approached, let alone bombed, the devastated city since last Tuesday when Russia suspended air strikes ahead of a pause in hostilities. "Flights over Aleppo by the Russian and Syrian air forces have been completely halted for the last seven days," said Konashenkov in a statement.

Some Indonesians 'joining pro-Islamic State groups in Philippines' Posted: 25 Oct 2016 04:01 AM PDT By Kanupriya Kapoor and Agustinus Beo Da Costa JAKARTA (Reuters) - Islamic State supporters from Indonesia are traveling to join forces with their counterparts in the Philippines, raising concerns about cross-border violence, Indonesian anti-terrorism officials said on Tuesday. Authorities in Southeast Asia have been on heightened alert since a gun-and-bomb attack rocked the Indonesian capital Jakarta in January and stamped Islamic State's presence in the region for the first time. "Some (Indonesian Islamic State supporters) are training in the Philippines," said A. Syamsu of the Indonesian counter-terrorism agency.

Displaced Sunnis brace to join fight for Mosul Posted: 25 Oct 2016 03:55 AM PDT By Michael Georgy DEBAGA, Iraq (Reuters) - Still limping four months after an Islamic State fighter fired a bullet into his leg, teenager Mustafa Muhammed says he and his fellow Sunni tribesmen are ready to join an offensive against the militants in their stronghold of Mosul. There they will face an enemy which seized control of their lands around Mosul two years ago, and whose fighters they know as fearless and highly unpredictable. "That's why they come to battle strapped with suicide belts." Daesh is the Arabic acronym for Islamic State, which controls large parts of neighboring Syria and swept through northern and western Iraq in 2014.

Turkey's post-coup emergency rule led to torture, abuse: rights group Posted: 25 Oct 2016 03:36 AM PDT By Humeyra Pamuk ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey has effectively written a "blank check" to security services to torture people detained after a failed military coup attempt, a U.S.-based rights group said on Tuesday, citing accusations of beatings, sleep deprivation and sexual abuse. A report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) said a "climate of fear" had prevailed since July's failed coup against President Tayyip Erdogan and the arrest of thousands under a State of Emergency.

Sunni Arabs forced to leave Kirkuk after Islamic State attack, residents say Posted: 25 Oct 2016 02:37 AM PDT Hundreds of displaced Sunni Arab families have had to leave Kirkuk after an Islamic State attack on the Kurdish-controlled city which authorities suspect was helped by Sunni sleeper cells, humanitarian workers and residents said on Tuesday. The Sunni families, who had been sheltering in Kurdish-controlled Kirkuk province from the conflict with Islamic State, began moving out after authorities told them on Sunday to leave or face being forcibly expelled, the sources said. About 330,000 Sunni Arabs have taken refuge in the oil-rich Kirkuk province in the last two years, after Islamic State swept through northern, central and western Iraq in 2014.

Turkey could carry out ground operations against PKK in Iraq - foreign minister Posted: 25 Oct 2016 02:28 AM PDT ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey will take more effective measures against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in northern Iraq, potentially including ground operations there, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday. In an interview with the Kanal 24 television channel, Cavusoglu said it was unacceptable for the PKK, which has waged a three-decade insurgency against the Turkish state, to use various towns in Iraq as a base. (Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Nick Tattersall)

Clinton slams Trump for comments on offensive against Islamic State Posted: 24 Oct 2016 10:13 PM PDT By Luciana Lopez and Steve Holland MANCHESTER, N.H./ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton slammed rival Donald Trump on Monday for saying that the week-old effort to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from the control of Islamic State was going badly. "He's basically declaring defeat before the battle has even started," Clinton said at a campaign event in New Hampshire. "He's proving to the world what it means to have an unqualified commander in chief." In a tweet on Sunday, Trump, the Republican nominee for the Nov. 8 election, said the "attack on Mosul is turning out to be a total disaster.

Today in History Posted: 24 Oct 2016 09:01 PM PDT Today in History

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