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U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported.

Officials reported details of the latest strikes, which took place between 8 a.m. Wednesda and 8 a.m. Thursday, local time, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Airstrikes in Syria

Attack and fighter aircraft conducted six airstrikes in Syria:

• Near Hasakah, three airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units and an ISIL trench system, destroying four ISIL fighting positions.
• Near Dayr Az Zawr, three airstrikes struck three ISIL crude oil collection points.

Airstrikes in Iraq

Attack, fighter, bomber and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 20 airstrikes in Iraq, approved by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense:

• Near Baghdadi, an airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying an ISIL homemade explosives cache.
• Near Huwayjah, an airstrike struck an ISIL fighting position.
• Near Beiji, three airstrikes destroyed five ISIL vehicles, an ISIL building and an ISIL fighting position.
• Near Fallujah, three airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units, destroying two ISIL heavy machine guns, two ISIL armored vehicles and an ISIL vehicle bomb.
• Near Kirkuk, an airstrike struck an ISIL vehicle.
• Near Makhmur, an airstrike struck an ISIL mortar position.
• Near Mosul, five airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit, an ISIL checkpoint and an ISIL staging area, destroying two ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL vehicle, an ISIL armored vehicle and an ISIL trench system.
• Near Ramadi, an airstrike destroyed an ISIL vehicle bomb.
• Near Sinjar, three airstrikes struck three ISIL tactical units, destroying three ISIL heavy machine guns, an ISIL mortar position and an ISIL sniper position.
• Near Tal Afar, an airstrike struck land features denying ISIL a tactical advantage.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, the region, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Syria include the United States, Bahrain, Canada, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

(Source: US Dept of Defense)

U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported.

Officials reported details of the latest strikes, which took place between 8 a.m. Monday and 8 a.m. Tuesday, local time, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Airstrikes in Syria

Attack, bomber and fighter aircraft conducted seven airstrikes in Syria, all near Hasakah, striking four ISIL tactical units, an ISIL natural gas production plant and an ISIL headquarters and destroying four ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL vehicles and an ISIL mortar position.

Airstrikes in Iraq

Attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 12 airstrikes in Iraq, approved by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense:

• Near Beiji, an airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying an ISIL excavator.
• Near Fallujah, four airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units, destroying four ISIL homemade explosives resupply vehicles and an ISIL armored vehicle.
• Near Hit, an airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying an ISIL resupply vehicle.
• Near Mosul, three airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units and an ISIL rocket-firing position, destroying two ISIL heavy machine guns, an ISIL building and an ISIL vehicle.
• Near Sinjar, an airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying two ISIL buildings and two ISIL heavy machine guns.
• Near Tal Afar, two airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and an ISIL heavy machine gun, destroying two ISIL fighting positions and an ISIL mortar position.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, the region, and the wider international community.

The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Syria include the United States, Bahrain, Canada, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

(Source: US Dept of Defense)

U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, ISIS, IS) terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported.

Officials reported details of the latest strikes, which took place between 8 a.m. Sundayand 8 a.m. Monday, local time, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Airstrikes in Iraq

Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 25 airstrikes in Iraq, approved by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense:

• Near Baghdadi, five airstrikes struck one large and two small ISIL tactical units, destroying four ISIL structures, two ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL armored excavator, an ISIL heavy machine gun and an ISIL vehicle bomb.
• Near Beiji, three airstrikes destroyed an ISIL dump truck, an ISIL excavator and an ISIL tanker.
• Near Fallujah, an airstrike destroyed an ISIL anti-aircraft artillery piece and an ISIL fighting position.
• Near Hit, an airstrike struck an ISIL vehicle-bomb facility.
• Near Mosul, nine airstrikes struck five ISIL tactical units and an ISIL staging area, destroying four ISIL heavy machine guns, three ISIL buildings, an ISIL armored vehicle, an ISIL excavator and an ISIL vehicle bomb.
• Near Ramadi, an airstrike struck an ISIL vehicle.
• Near Sinjar, two airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units, destroying two ISIL buildings, two ISIL heavy machine guns and an ISIL rocket-propelled grenade.
• Near Tal Afar, three airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units and an ISIL vehicle, destroying two ISIL buildings, two ISIL heavy machine guns and two ISIL mortar systems.

Airstrikes in Syria

Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 10 airstrikes in Syria:

• Near Hasakah, seven airstrikes struck two large and four small ISIL tactical units, destroying four ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL checkpoint, an ISIL excavator, an ISIL vehicle bomb and an ISIL vehicle. No civilian casualties from the airstrikes were observed, officials said, adding that Kurdish fighters reported an ISIL vehicle bomb detonation that resulted in an undetermined number of civilians injured in the area.
• Near Raqqah, two airstrikes destroyed an ISIL excavator and an ISIL tank.
• Near Dayr Az Zawr, an airstrike destroyed an ISIL multiple rocket launcher vehicle.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, the region, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Syria include the United States, Bahrain, Canada, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

(Source: US Dept of Defense)

UNESCO celebrates opening of Tasloja secondary school for IDPs in Sulaimaniyah

UNESCO and its partners celebrated today with students, parents and teachers the opening of the newly constructed Tasloja Secondary School forinternally displaced persons in Sulaimaniyah.

The ceremony held today marks the opening of the fifth school constructed by UNESCO within the framework of the project ‘Providing access to quality education to adolescents and young adults in conflict-affected areas in Iraq’, funded by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The opening of Tasloja Secondary School comes only 3 days after the opening of Kabarto secondary school in Dohuk and also follows the opening of the Baharka Secondary School, the Dawodiyah Secondary School and the Migrant Birds Intermediate School and is another milestone in UNESCO’s efforts to provide quality education to children and adolescents of IDP communities and to ensure equal opportunities to education for both girls and boys.

Welcoming the students, UNESCO Project Manager Zulfiqar Ali said, “The future of the youth of Iraq depends on what we do today. Their access to quality education is the corner stone for stability and peace in Iraq.

The opening ceremony was held in the presence of government and education officials from the Ministries of Education of Baghdad and Erbil, UN Agencies, International NGOs, and civil society organizations as well as students, parents and teachers.

Both the Deputy Governor of Sulaimaniyah, Sardar Qadier and the Director General of Education in Sulaimaniyah, Najmuddin Ali Ahmad, expressed their gratitude to UNESCO, the Ministries of Education of Baghdad and Erbil and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their support in establishing the secondary school.

With its 6 classrooms, 14 toilets, a play area, a common room for the teachers, and one for the head teacher as well as a store, the Tasloja Secondary School will host up to 500 students and 20 teachers in two shifts.

(Source: UN)

(Education image via Shutterstock)

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) today donated three dislodging tankers to local authorities in Dohuk, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, to improve WASH services in a governorate, which contends with one of the largest numbers of internally displaced persons in the world.

The dislodging tankers will provide sanitation services to at least three camps, or some 20,000 displaced persons in the northern governorate. These services will also benefit to schools within host communities.

“In the face of such a large population displacement, safe disposal and treatment of human waste is a pressing development and humanitarian issue,” the UNDP Deputy Country Director Sultan Hajiyev noted.

“UNDP is proud to help the Governorate of Dohuk and municipal authorities improve sanitation services, and thus the health, of all those affected in camp and non-camp settings,” he said.

Mid-2014, when the city of Dohuk and neighbouring villages and communities hosted displaced people in public buildings, UNDP had funded emergency dislodging services through rented tankers, which served more than 100 schools.

UNDP’s Iraq Crisis Response and Recovery Programme 2014–2015, which spearheads resilience approaches by rehabilitating basic social infrastructure, creating employment and sustainable livelihoods and preventing gender-based violence, is supported by funds from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Japan, Switzerland, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), as well as UNDP core contributions—yet $26.8 million dollars US in total.

The Kurdistan region hosts nearly half of the 2.8 million displaced persons in Iraq, in addition to some 250,000 Syrian refugees.

(Source: UNDP in Iraq)

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

The Middle East is facing a water crisis. As the region experiences conflicts over water and faces the continuous risk of war breaking out, experts on water predict that the Islamic State (IS) aims to exacerbate this water crisis, as evidenced by its efforts to seize rivers and dams in Syria and Iraq, starting in 2013.

The Arab League has worked since 2008 to establish a new Arab convention on water usage, which would establish parameters on how to deal with the water crisis. However, the final draft is still under review because of the reservations of some member states.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, an international consulting organization, has identified numerous regions where the water crisis threatens to transform into a global conflict. Turkey, Syria and Iraq are included on that list, due to the Turkish dams controlling the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Iran and Iraq are also witnessing a competition over the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, known as Shatt al-Arab.

Also included is Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, which are witnessing a conflict over the Nile. Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Chad and Niger are also experiencing a crisis in relation to an 800-meter (0.5-mile) deep underground water field and the Nubian sandstone aquifer. Libya wants to invest in this aquifer to extend an artificial river and supply its coastline with freshwater.

Mahmoud Abu Zeid, president of the Arab Water Council, told Al-Monitor that the Arab region is facing a crisis because of the lack of rain and available water resources. The Arab region accounts for less than 7% of the world's water reserves, according to Abu Zeid, and less than 1% of the flowing water, while rain does not exceed 2% of the global average.

“Arab water is facing a great danger, which portends the exacerbation of the water conflict given that freshwater resources are limited. However, there is a food gap that increases with the growing population, which threatens a famine by 2025 in the absence of concerted efforts,” Abu Zeid said.

Abu Zeid also warned against IS using water as a weapon. “IS’ expansion has become concentrated in water resource regions in Syria and Iraq, and it is very clear that IS is seeking to acquire parts of Arab water sources," he said. "Given that water represents life, seizing such resources in Arab countries would be very serious and would constitute an inhumane means of pressure.”

IS fighters control most of the upper areas of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which flow from Turkey in the north to the Gulf in the south. All of Iraq and a large part of Syria rely on these rivers for food, water and industry. Abu Zeid predicted that IS’ attempts to control Arab water resources would lead to a water crisis that would overshadow the ongoing oil conflict, since water is a matter of life or death.

Abu Zeid said the Arab Water Council is preparing a report on the tense water situation in IS-controlled areas. The council’s experts have monitored a series of serious moves by IS that aim to gain control of Arab water sources as a means to exert pressure, such as the seizing of an Iraqi dam and controlling water resources in Syria. “We will work on raising this problem at the international level because it is a sign of a humanitarian disaster, given the number of countries [IS] is stationed in,” he said.

According to a September 2014 report from the Beirut Center for Middle East Studies, IS considers controlling rivers and dams to be a weapon more important than oil.

IS’ attempts to control water resources are in line with the group's announcement to extend its so-called caliphate from the Levant to Egypt, Ethiopia and the Maghreb, according to the group's caliphate map published in July 2014 on social media. This caliphate would extend into the headwaters of the Nile. The allegiance sworn by Boko Haram in March 2015 to IS emir Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was probably aimed at supporting the IS conspiracy to control the headwaters of the Nile.

Asked about the Arab Water Council's strategy to confront the water crisis, Abu Zeid said, “We are currently working on maximizing water resources in the Arab region, especially since the Arab water conflict includes Arab-Arab conflicts due to the presence of common rivers between a number of Arab countries, as well as Arab conflicts with other countries, especially since the water quantity that comes from outside the Arab world accounts for more than 60% of the water used in Arab countries.

“This is the threat that prompted us to resort to non-traditional water, especially treated agricultural water and wastewater,” he said. “We are currently working on the direct exploitation of brackish water, which is abundantly found in the subsoil Arab aquifers, in agriculture. We are also seeking to mix this non-fresh water with pure water. We recently issued a manual outlining their uses. Add to this the desalination techniques of seawater that were adopted by several Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, to face water scarcity.”

The water war is a ghost threatening the Middle East.

Though the poor populations of this region are the only ones paying for the price of the oil conflict, the water wars will not spare anyone.

(Picture: Mosul Dam)

Over 500 families have moved into the newly opened Shekhan camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in northern Iraq over the past week and hundreds more will move in in the coming days.

The camp has been constructed by a consortium of humanitarian partners with the support of multiple donors and will eventually provide shelter forsome 1,000 displaced families.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM), with funding from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, contributed the lead technical role in camp design and construction, and provided the internal electrical network, gravelled roads, prefabricated buildings for administrative offices and a health center, and private kitchens for each family, including sinks and electrical connections.

IOM will also staff and manage the camp primary health care centre, which will be handicap accessible, and will provide psychosocial support to displaced families, particularly women and children. Activities will include psycho-social consultations, individual and group counselling, and opportunities for sports and recreation, including a playground area.

IOM also provided transport for displaced families to get to Shekhan, in coordination with the Dohuk Governorate Bureau of Relief and Humanitarian Affairs (BRHA), and a UNHCR multi-functional team, which jointly carried out the process of family selection. Most of the families were living in unfinished and abandoned buildings in Dohuk Governorate.

Shekhan was built under the guidance of Dohuk Governorate BRHA. Partners included IOM and the International Humanitarian Partnership, Technisches Hilfswerk and Action Against Hunger. UNHCR held a coordination role. The camp is now fully operational and will be officially handed over to Dohuk Governorate BRHA in mid-May.

Dohuk hosts the most IDPs of all Iraq governorates. Shekhan camp is the 16th IDP camp in the area administered by Dohuk Governorate and two additional camps are under construction. But there is still insufficient housing for the displaced population.

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

As a coalition of Sunni Arab states led by Saudi Arabia targets Shiite Houthi forces and their allies in Yemen, Iraqi Kurds are watching with concern and caution, wondering how the repercussions of the region's deepening sectarian conflicts might affect them.

Sandwiched geographically between opposing Shiite and Sunni regional powers such as Iran and Turkey, Iraqi Kurds wonder how long until they are dragged into the unfolding regional hostilities.

"If the struggle reaches its pinnacle and leads to an even deeper polarization, Kurds might be forced to become part of it," said Muthana Amin, a member of the Iraqi parliament from the Kurdistan Islamic Union. "If Kurds become part of this struggle, then we will be serving outside agendas and will end up empty-handed."

In recent years, Kurds have shown signs of division in face of regional polarization. The eruption of the Syrian revolution in 2011 divided the largely united Iraqi Kurds regarding the Kurdish response to Syrian events. The two major Iraqi Kurdish groups, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), appeared to be aligning themselves with opposite regional camps.

The KDP, led by Iraqi Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani, adopted a pro-opposition stance, as did most of the Sunni states in the region, from Turkey to Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The PUK, led by former Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, refrained from supporting that policy and has been seen as closer to the Iran-led camp.

While most other regional actors possibly chose allies based on sectarian identities, Iraqi Kurdish politics are hardly defined in terms of Sunni-Shiite affiliations. In fact, both the KDP and PUK are heavily dominated by secular elites.

UNESCO and its partners celebrated with students and teachers the opening of the newly constructed Migrant Birds Intermediate School for internally displaced persons at Al-Souq Al Asry Camp in Basrah, Iraq.

The opening of the school in Al Souq Al Asry camp shortly follows the opening of the Baharka Secondary School and the Dawodiyah Secondary School and is another milestone in UNESCO’s efforts to provide quality education to children and adolescents of IDP communities and to ensure equal opportunities to education for both girls and boys.

The opening ceremony was held in the presence of government and education officials from Basrah. Also attended by students, parents and teachers along with members of local NGOs and the international community, the event featured a school tour and several student activities including dance and song performances and poetry readings.

Speaking to the students UNESCO Project Officer Zulfiqar Ali said:

“Education brings peace and normalcy to the lives of IDPs, and the opening of the Migrant Birds school will provide IDPs with a renewed sense of hope for the future.”

Also speaking at the opening ceremony, Head of the Human Rights Committee of the Provincial Council of Basrah, Ektifaa Sabahee expressed her gratitude for UNESCO’s support in establishing Migrant Birds Intermediate School stating that:

“The school will help protect IDPs, in particular young girls and offer them the opportunity to receive high quality education.”

Amin Mansoor, Head of the Education Committee and Maki Mahous, Director General of Education in Basrah stressed the positive change that the opening of the school will bring about at the camp, reminding parents of their responsibility to enrol their children at the school. 270 families – all together 2400 people - are currently residing in Al-Souk Al-Asari camp; the opening of this intermediate school will enable many students to continue their education.

The new school will cater to 300 students (150 boys and 150 girls) and ten teachers in two shifts. The school, with its six classrooms, two multipurpose halls, five toilets, and a play area, is the third school and first intermediate school to be constructed by UNESCO within the framework of the project ‘Providing access to quality education to adolescents and young adults in conflict-affected areas in Iraq’, funded by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

(Source: UN)

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

It appears that neither Iran nor Saudi Arabia, the two rival parties to the proxy and direct wars in the Middle East, was satisfied with the signals sent by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi during his visit to Washington April 14-17.

Abadi criticized the showy demeanor of Gen. Qasem Soleimani in presenting himself as the leader of the battle for Tikrit, saying of Iran’s military involvement in the Iraqi crisis, “I am extremely upset with what is happening, and I voiced my concerns to the Iranians.” He prefaced this remark by noting, “Iraqis do not accept the fact that some people say they are working on their behalf.”

Abadi also stressed the importance of the image of the government, stating, “The people have to believe that democracy can triumph.” Abadi also made sharp comments about Saudi Arabia's attitude toward Iraq, noting Riyadh's failure to take serious steps to improve relations, including pointing out that the Saudis have not yet opened an embassy in Baghdad.

He also questioned Operation Decisive Storm, the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen, asserting that the operations there are not logical and wondering aloud, “What are the objectives behind the military operation?” In light of the current situation in the region, it would be impossible to satisfy all parties and actors.