Archive | Security

Video: Obama's Balancing Act over Iraq Crisis

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 […]

Weekly Security Update, 05 - 11 August 2014

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 […]

US arming Kurdish forces

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 […]

New PM Named to End Maliki's Rule

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  […]

US Airstrikes Against ISIL Near Sinjar

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 […]

KRG Forces Push Back ISIS

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 […]

KRG Calls for Increased Oil Production

The KRG's Ministry of Natural Resources has said it attaches the highest priority to the safety and security of all oil industry workers and their operations in the Kurdistan Region. MNR remains in constant contact with KRG security forces regarding the deterioration of security on the Region’s borders and it continues to share all relevant […]

US Airstrikes Alone will not Defeat IS

By Mushreq Abbas for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The United States has finally decided that Iraq's security and humanitarian situations require immediate military intervention. US President Barack Obama's Aug. 7 speech consolidated this decision and spelled out the US mission on two levels: […]

Turkey Vows Support for KRG

By Patrick M Schmidt. Senior Officials in the Turkish ruling party announced that the country would do everything it could to ensure the security of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). The announcement follows reports of Turkish fighter jets on patrol over the region. “As a strategic neighbor the stability and security of the Kurdistan Region […]

Etihad Reroutes Flights and Modifies Schedule

By Patrick M Schmidt. In the wake of other airlines and the American Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) ban for American commercial airlines, Abu Dhabi based airline, Etihad Airways, has announced that they will redirect their aircraft around Iraqi airspace. The airline has cancelled all flights to Erbil, but will maintain its current flight operations to […]

Oryx and Others Remove Staff from Iraq

By Patrick M Schmidt. As the United States begun strikes against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants, Canadian oil firm, Oryx, began evacuations of staff from their facilities in the Kurdistan region. The company announced that portion of its Demir Dagh oil field had been shut down. Drilling and other operations continued […]

FAA Bans American Flights from Iraqi Airspace

By Patrick M Schmidt. Following the announcement of targeted strikes against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) declared that American airlines could no longer transit through Iraqi airspace. This statements comes following other individual airlines rerouting their flights around Iraq. The FAA had previously mandated that American […]