By Patrick M Schmidt. In an interview with BBC, Masrour Barzani (pictured), the Head of the Kurdish Security Council, has requested that the international community supply Kurdish security forces with heavy weaponry. Barzani once again emphasized that there was no need for foreign military intervention with ground troops. “We need more modern weaponry. We need […]
By Patrick M Schmidt. Kurdish security forces have announced that a military airport will open in Erbil that will be the receiving point for international military assistance to the regional government. Iraqi, Kurdish and American forces will jointly operate the airbase. While the Kurdish security forces have already received weapons from the United States, they […]
British Charity Makes Urgent Appeal to Help Refugees Fleeing Islamic State A British-run charity has launched an emergency appeal to help the many hundreds of thousands of people forced from their homes by the Islamic State (IS) fighters in Iraq. The AMAR International Charitable Foundation is one of the only organisations offering help to families […]
From CNN. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Col. Tim Collins, Former British Army Commander, speaks with CNN's Hala Gorani about the chaos in Iraq:
By Patrick Schmidt. While the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL) conquest of oil fields and major dams has garnered the attention of the international community, the seizure of some of Iraq’s most valuable farmland has not received the same amount of attention. ISIL has large portions of Iraq’s top five most productive […]
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 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: […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
From Al Jazeera. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Many analysts blame months of political instability across Iraq for the current crisis facing the government. The combination of the rise of the Islamic State group, Kurdish opposition and weakening support from Iran […]
