By Simon Kent. Kurdish Peshmerga forces in newly liberated Sinjar, the Yazidi majority town en route to Mosul, have discovered an ISIS tunnel complex of fighting positions. The Wall Street Journal has documented the find in a photo essay report. Tunnel complexes have previously been used by ISIS in the battle of Jurf al Sakhar last year, […]
By Simon Kent. Traders in Europe have reported to Reuters that the Basra Light grade of crude is selling for $30 on the European market, as Iraq gains on Saudi Arabia as one of the main suppliers of oil to EU countries. Last year, Basra split its exports into Basra Light and Basra Heavy grades and […]
By Simon Kent. Bloom Properties, subsidiary of Dubai based Abu Dhabi National Holding, has delayed construction of a 40,000 housing unit project in Karbala. The site, dubbed "Shores of Karbala" (pictured: plan of the site) was announced in 2013 with former PM Nouri al Maliki attending a ceremony to mark the signing of the contract, with […]
By Simon Kent. Basra provincial council has reportedly hired international consultancy firm Mott MacDonald to finalise plans for a 3500ft, 240 floor building which would be host to business communities, residents and public entertainment. According to designers AMBS Architects, the "city in the sky" is designed to be an "antidote" to modern super towers in […]
By Simon Kent. A wave of US aircraft, including A-10 bombers which can fire thousands of exploding canon shells per minute, have destroyed 116 ISIS fuel tankers near the Iraqi border in Syria. The operation at Albu Kamal (the Iraqi side of the border is Al Qaim), code named Tidal Wave II, targeted a gathering […]
By Simon Kent. Iraqi crude exports to the US surged to 521,000 bpd for October, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA.) The increase in exports of Iraqi crude to the US marks a historic shift, since US imports of Iraqi crude actually decreased after 2003 despite the gradual increase in Iraqi production, with […]
By Simon Kent. Recently elected Canadian PM Justin Trudeau has announced a plan to increase the number of training personnel working with Kurdish Peshmerga in Northern Iraq. The number of Canadian advisers and trainers currently stands at 69. The announcement comes after Trudeau pledged to end Canadian air support to Iraqi forces fighting the so […]
By Simon Kent. Nine senior officials at Iraq's Grain Board have been relieved of their jobs, although no details of the dismissals have been reported. The Grain Board has a critical responsibility for procuring grain imports, strategically vital for feeding a country with a growing population and an agricultural sector threatened by acute drought. The […]
By Simon Kent. Following on from France's recent escalation of bombing against the so called "Islamic State" in Syria, the UK appears to have followed suit with a similar escalation in Iraq. According to a UK Ministry of Defence briefing reported in The Huffington Post, British jets from the Royal Air Force killed at least 30 militants […]
By Simon Kent. Iraq and Egypt are working on a plan to export Iraqi oil through Jordan to Egypt, for refining in Egypt and re-sale to the European market, Reuters reports. The three countries have already signed an agreement for this plan, part of Egypt's strategy to regain a degree of self suffiency for domestic energy needs […]
By Simon Kent. Kurdish and Yezidi forces made the grim discovery of a mass grave over the weekend, containing the remains of up to 70 women near the town of Sinjar. Sinjar, a key town on the approach to ISIS occupied Mosul, is home to many of the Yazidi community and was recently recaptured in a […]
By Simon Kent. Iraqi army forces, supported by pro-government Sunni tribes and US air strikes, have advanced into central Ramadi according to officials quoted in UPI. The reported capture of the train station in the centre of the town would mark the culmination of a series of "shaping operations" to cut off ISIS from their […]
