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As part of its results statement for the twelve months to 31st December 2015, Qatar-based Ooredoo gave the following update for its Asiacell mobile telecom operation in Iraq:

"Asiacell was impacted by the security situation in Iraq and aggressive pricing competition in the first half of the year. Consequently, revenue was down 22% to QAR 4,884 million in 2015 from QAR 6,298 million in 2014.

"Its customer base was 10.8 million, down from 12.3 million in 2014. EBITDA decreased to QAR 2,136 million in 2015 from QAR 2,939 million in 2014. Net Profit stood at QAR 159 million in 2015 (QAR 1,031 million in 2014) due to lower EBITDA and higher depreciation and amortization expenses on the back of 3G investments.#

"Shutdowns across Asiacell's network impacted active subscriber numbers and revenue. However, a number of areas were also liberated throughout the year with Asiacell beginning to see some return of revenue in areas such as Tikrit city.

"The aggressive pricing competition characterizing the first half of the year alleviated in the second half of the year and Asiacell successfully launched a series of regional pricing initiatives. In Q4 2015, Asiacell began to increase its customer base with a 2% improvement compared to Q3 2015.

"Asiacell obtained its 3G license in 2014 and started 3G services from 1 January 2015. As a result, the company achieved double-digit growth in data revenues in 2015 compared to 2014."

(Source: Ooredoo)

(Picture: Sheikh Saud Bin Nasser Al Thani, Group CEO, Ooredoo)

As the U.S.-led coalition’s air campaign to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Iraq and Syria brings its capabilities to the fight, joint interoperability continues to degrade the terrorist organization, the commander of U.S. Air Forces Central Command said today.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., who also serves as Combined Forces Air Component commander for Operation Inherent Resolve, briefed Pentagon reporters on progress in the coalition’s counter-ISIL air operations via teleconference from an air operations center in Al Udeid, Qatar.

The interoperability among the coalition nations is built upon “years of combined training and multilateral exercises [that have] been key to our continued success in the air campaign,” Brown emphasized.

“There is no doubt coalition air power has and continues to dramatically degrade [ISIL’s] ability to fight and conduct operations,” he added.

While persistent air coverage continually exploits ISIL’s weaknesses, “we are more effective today than ever before,” the general said. “We're conducting the most precise air campaign in history, and we're able to attrit [ISIL] and its capabilities any time and anywhere.”

Targeting Areas for Defeat

Targeting ISIL logistics, command and control and weapons manufacturing are some of the areas in which the coalition has had increased success, he said.

Following a first-of-its-kind meeting hosted by Defense Secretary Ash Carter in Brussels on Thursday, the defense ministers of nations involved in the coalition to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant released a statement summarizing the meeting’s outcome.

In addition to Carter, the defense ministers of Belgium, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom participated in the meeting that led to the joint statement. They were joined by senior representatives from Australia, the Czech Republic and Singapore, three nations that provide or intend to provide forces or other support to the campaign.

The statement said the ministers paid tribute to the efforts of all Iraqi security forces, including the peshmerga and Sunni tribal forces, and moderate Syrian opposition forces who are fighting ISIL and have caused numerous tactical defeats of the terror organization in recent months. The ministers said they also acknowledged the coalition force commander's assessment that these successes mark the transition of the Counter-ISIL campaign.

However, the ministers said, they also acknowledged that significant work remains to be done to ensure ISIL’s lasting defeat and the restoration of stability in Iraq and Syria. “We called on those states playing a counterproductive role in the fight … and the Syrian peace process to play a more constructive role,” the statement said.

Broad Support for Campaign Objectives

The ministers said they provided broad support for the objectives of the counter-ISIL campaign plan and reaffirmed their governments' “unwavering commitment” to work together.

By Omar al-Jaffal, for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Iraq is experiencing a resurgence in the abductions of foreigners, something that had tapered off in recent years. Three new incidents include the kidnappings of 18 Turkish workers in September, 26 Qatari hunters in December and three US citizens in January.

Following the US occupation of Iraq in April 2003, Iraq became a ripe environment for the kidnapping of Arab and foreign diplomats, as well as foreign laborers. In 2004, Egyptian and Iranian diplomats were kidnapped by unidentified militants and the Islamic Army in Iraq, respectively. Yet negotiations with the abducting groups led to their release.

The same year saw the kidnapping of foreign workers whose companies were forced to leave Iraq because they received constant threats; one example is Turkish goods transfer company Atahan, which closed its doors after one of its workers was kidnapped.

Iraq was unable to protect its citizens and foreign laborers working on its territory.

Although abductions abated during the second term of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (2010-2014), suicide bombings continued as armed groups grew amid the Iraqi authorities’ failure to eliminate them. Kidnappings strongly re-emerged after the Islamic State (IS) took control of one-third of the country in June 2014.

In the recent kidnappings, the 18 Turkish workers in Baghdad were taken as they worked on building a sports facility east of the capital. A group known as the Death Squad claimed responsibility. The group had a clear political agenda: In a video released Sept. 11, the group called on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to lift the siege imposed on two Shiite villages in northern Syria. The Death Squad is a Shiite group whose supporters have yet to be revealed.

Under the ongoing Warm Winter 2015-2016 campaign in several countries, and with a budget of QR 11 million, Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has completed a large-scale winterization project in Al-Anbar Governorate.

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