The disputed internal boundaries in northern Iraq between the Kurds and the Arabs have been a persistent fault-line in the state's history and have rapidly emerged as a core dispute since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. According to a report from Peter Bartu at Chatham House, the Kurds underwrote, more than any other constituency, the […]
Overview After a quiet ‘Eid ul-Adha levels of violence rose again last week, with at least 46 people killed and over 110 injured in attacks around Iraq. The majority of violence was concentrated in Baghdad and Mosul, with a scattering of activity around Kirkuk, Ba’qubah and the northern fringes of Salah ad-Din province. Basrah airport […]
The following article was written by Ali Al-Mawlawi, an Iraqi research fellow at Baghdad-based independent think tank, the Iraqi Institute for Economic Reform. It was published by openDemocracy, and is reproduced here under their Creative Commons licence. The World Bank has described corruption as ‘the single greatest obstacle to economic and social development.” The prospects […]
Basrah airport has been hit by several mortars over the last week. Although no casualties were reported the facility was shut for several hours and flights delayed and cancelled as a result. Local militancy Blame has speculatively been assigned to local Shi'ah militia groups, such as those affiliated with the now splintered Jaysh al-Mahdi (the […]
The United States Department of Defense has issued notification of proposed sales of arms from the US to Iraq. General Dynamics is to be the prime contractor on a $36m deal for the supply of ammunition for Iraq's Abrams M1A1 tanks (pictured). The sale consists of: 14,010 TP-T M831A1 120mm Cartridges; 16,110 TPCSDS-T M865 120mm […]
The Chairman of the Iraqi Commission on Integrity, Rahim al-Ugeily, has announced on Thursday that 2,300 defendants have been prosecuted this year on charges of corruption, totalling in excess of 600 billion (b) Iraqi Dinars (US$535 million approx.). 600 people have been sentenced to various jail sentences. Judge Ugeily was speaking in a workshop taking […]
According to a report from Chatham House, the 'oil question' in Iraq has traditionally been viewed almost exclusively through the prism of ethno-sectarianism. Disputes over the management and licensing of the hydrocarbon sector and over revenue distribution have been seen as a battle for power between Iraq's ethnic and sectarian communities, as if these were […]
AKE has analysed all of the attacks reported in Iraq over the past three months. Commercial sectors such as retail and banking were actually targeted in only a small proportion of cases. Findings The overwhelming majority of victims were civilians targeted on an indiscriminate basis. The police were the second most targeted group while the […]
Overview Last week was one of the quietest reported in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. Many people were observing the festival of ‘Eid ul-Adha and in all likelihood, militants and terrorists were also participating. As mentioned in last week’s update, religious events such as this are generally less inflammatory in Iraq, mainly because they are […]
Iraq Navy’s has received the first of nine military observation boats from the United States, according to a Navy Command source quoted by Aswat al-Iraq on Sunday. “The boat is part of an order for 9 boats, manufactured in the United States, according to a contract concluded previously,” he said. He continued that the "boats […]
United States Forces-Iraq provided a forum for members of Iraq’s intelligence community to network across ministries in an effort to assess and promote processes leading to developing a more financially-secure and self-sustaining nation as U.S. Forces continue to draw down. The Intelligence Officer Financial Manager Conference was conducted at the Babylon Conference center here Nov. […]
Iraq has received the last two in an order of eight Russian-made multi-purpose helicopters which cost 156 million dollars, the US army has said. The purchase is Iraq’s latest effort to bolster the capacity of its armed forces ahead of a complete withdrawal of US forces by the end of next year, as the US […]
