By Simon Kent. Iraq's Maysan province, which borders Iran, has opened a new gas processing facility to treat associated gas from the Fakka and Bazargan fields. A statement from Iraq's Ministry of Oil did not say how much gas was being processed, but the gas had previously been flared and will now be used for power […]
By Simon Kent. Kurdish Peshmerga forces have captured several villages from the self declared Islamic State, near the city of Mosul, the group's last urban stronghold in Iraq. Around 5000 Kurdish fighters participated in the operation, which was backed by Coalition air strikes. IS responded by launching suicide vehicle attacks, but these were not successful. […]
By Simon Kent. US Special Forces, possibly in conjunction with Kurdish commandos, have been involved in a targeted raid near the Iraqi border town of Al Qaim, CNN reports. The target of the raid, intended for capture, was killed during a firefight, according to the Kurdish Security Council. The raiding party were attempting to capture Sami […]
By Simon Kent. Outgoing US commander Lieutenant General Sean MacFarland has given a press conference on the state of the self declared Islamic State and the coming campaign to retake Mosul from group. At the conference, he noted that "the enemy is in retreat on all fronts.” The General noted that 30,000 airstrikes had hit […]
By Omar Sattar for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. BAGHDAD — US Ambassador to Iraq Stuart Jones announced July 21 that the Iraqi government has started withdrawing the $2.7 billion loan secured on June 29. However, the Iraqi parliament had not been briefed on the deal, making […]
By Mustafa Saadoun for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Alaa Abboud, the spokesman for the Peace Brigades, the armed faction of the Sadrist movement, said in a TV interview with a local Iraqi channel July 20, “We will […]
By Simon Kent. The self declared Islamic State have claimed an attack over the weekend in Baghdad at a checkpoint in Kadhimiyah, a district in Baghdad home to a major Shia mosque. The bombing occurred in heavy traffic near the Adnan checkpoint and wounded around 35 others. Since losing significant territory in Iraq, the so […]
By Simon Kent. Iraqis suffered a second summer of 50C temperatures with the barometer climbing to 53C (127F) over the weekend, and the government declaring a national holiday. Iraqis typically describe this weather as akin to being in an oven or having a hair dryer blown against skin on a hot setting. While many Iraqis […]
By Simon Kent. Iraq's oil exports have been recorded at an average of 3.28 mbpd for July, a rise from 3.18 mbpd in June. This is good news for Iraq, although a two month fall in exports due to infrastructure problems was offset by a slight increase in the price of oil. In June, a […]
By Simon Kent. Supranational organizations and countries at the US State Department organized Washington donor conference have made pledges of hundreds of millions of dollars for Iraq. This will take some financial strain off the Iraqi government as it struggles to assist over 3 million displaced people, amid slumped oil revenue and ongoing war expenditure. […]
By John Lee. Canadian Minister of Defence Harjit Sajjan has announced that Canada will establish and staff a field hospital (or military hospital) as a part of its contribution to the forthcoming battle for Mosul, expected some time over the coming winter. Sajjan noted, "As part of our ongoing commitment, Canada will soon deploy up […]
By Mustafa Sadoon for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The military protocol agreement signed July 12 between the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government and the United States might create controversy in Iraq’s public and political circles, especially those that do not have good relations with the […]
