By John Lee. The New York Times has reported that French President Francois Hollande has endorsed the appointment of Haider al-Abadi as Iraq's new PM, and with Baghdad's approval France is now ready to send arms to Kurdish forces. The move comes after the Kurdish President Massoud Barzani remarked that the Peshmerga were not sufficiently […]
By Patrick Schmidt. In addition to current energy holdings in Syria, the Islamic State of the Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) holds seven different oil fields in Iraq. This past month the militants seized Ain Zalah and Batma oil fields. They had previously gained control of Najma, Qayara, Himreen, Ajeel and Balad oil fields. The […]
By Patrick Schmidt. The Independent Human Rights Committee of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have made public their attempts to get the international community to recognize the crimes committed against Yazidi minorities. The spokesman of Independent Human Rights Committee, Mohammed Gomashini, noted: “Our committee started to attempt recognition of IS crimes against Kurdish Yazidi people […]
By Patrick Schmidt. Defence secretary Chuck Hagel has announced that additional military advisors are being deployed to Iraq. On Tuesday, an additional 130 American military advisers arrived in the country. The staff are tasked with accessing the ongoing humanitarian crisis taking place in the north of the country. This announcement comes almost a week after […]
In an interview with Thomas L. Friedman of the New York Times, US President Barack Obama has said that a residual U.S. troop presence in Iraq would never have been needed had the Shiite majority not “squandered an opportunity” to share power with Sunnis and Kurds. “Had the Shia majority seized the opportunity to reach […]
From CNN. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The nomination of a new Iraqi prime minister could giveIraqis "a nationalistic surge," says CNN military analyst.
From Al Jazeera. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. US President Barack Obama is warning that the fight against the Islamic State group may take time. Speaking before US fighter jets carried out a new round of air strikes, Obama blamed Iraqi […]
By Anne-Laure Barbosa at Constellis Consulting After months of parliamentary deadlock, President Massoum nominated Haider al-Abadi as Prime Minister on 11 August, effectively removing incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki from office. This nomination follows lengthy and opaque negotiations between Massoum and leaders from the Shia National Alliance, of which Maliki’s State of Law coalition is a […]
By Patrick Schmidt. Following recent gains of Kurdish security forces, in addition to a recent setback in Jalawla in northern Diyala, American officials have hinted that various government agencies have begun supplying Kurdistan with weapons to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). To date, America has mostly focused its attention on […]
By Laith Hammoudi. This article was originally published by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, iwpr.net, and it is reproduced by Iraq Business News with permission. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News Iraqi president Mohammed Fuad Masum has asked Haider al-Abadi […]
U.S. military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Iraq on Monday, successfully conducting airstrikes on four ISIL checkpoints and multiple ISIL vehicles near Sinjar Mountain in defense of internally displaced Yazidi civilians in the area. At approximately 1:10 p.m. EDT, U.S. fighter aircraft struck and destroyed an ISIL checkpoint southwest of Sinjar Mountain. At […]
By John Lee. As Barack Obama pledges to send more security assistance, including arms, advisers and possibly more air strikes to the KRG, The Wall Street Journal has reported renewed confidence displayed by KRG aligned forces. The famed Kurdish Peshmerga, no strangers to combat having once resisted Saddam's forces, have reportedly re-taken the villages of Gwair (north […]
