Militants capture northern Iraqi town.

A man checks a weapon as Iraqis volunteer to fight
 along side the Iraqi security forces against Jihadist
 militants who have taken over several northern
 Iraqi cities,on June 15 2014. — Photo by AFP

Militants capture northern Iraqi town.

BAGHDAD | AP | 18 june 2014 : : Militants captured the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar early on Monday, its mayor and residents said, the latest blow to the nation's Shia-led government a week after it lost a vast swath of territory in the country's north.

The town, with a population of some 200,000 people, mostly ethnic Shia and Sunni Turkomen, was taken just before dawn, Mayor Abdulal Abdoul told The Associated Press.

The ethnic mix of Tal Afar, 420 kilometers (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad, raises the grim specter of large-scale atrocities by Sunni militants of the Al Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, who already claim to have killed hundreds of Shias in areas they captured last week.

A Tal Afar resident reached by phone confirmed the town's fall and said militants in pick-up trucks mounted with machine-guns and flying black jihadi banners were roaming the streets as gunfire rang out.

The local security force left the town before dawn, said Hadeer al-Abadi, who spoke to the AP as he prepared to head out of town with his family.

Local tribesmen who continued to fight later surrendered to the militants, he said. “Residents are gripped by fear and most of them have already left the town to areas held by Kurdish security forces,” said al-Abadi.

The fall of Tal Afar comes a week after militants captured Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, and Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit in a lightening offensive. The town is some 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the border with Syria, where ISIL is fighting against President Bashar Assad's government and controls territory abutting the Iraqi border.

The capture of Tal Afar came just hours after Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, addressing volunteers joining the security forces, vowed to recapture every inch of territory taken by the militants. “We will march and liberate every inch they defaced, from the country's northernmost point to the southernmost point,” al-Maliki said.

The volunteers responded with Shia chants. Fighting in Tal Afar began on Sunday, with Iraqi government officials saying that ISIL fighters were firing rockets seized from military arms depots in the Mosul area. They said the local garrison suffered heavy casualties and the main hospital was unable to cope with the wounded, without providing exact numbers.

Over the weekend, militants posted graphic photos that appeared to show their gunmen massacring scores of captured Iraqi soldiers. Iraq's chief military spokesman Lt. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi confirmed the photos' authenticity and said he was aware of cases of mass murder of captured Iraqi soldiers in areas held by ISIL.

He told the AP that an examination of the images by military experts showed that about 170 soldiers were shot to death by the militants after their capture. Captions on the photos showing the soldiers after they were shot say “hundreds have been liquidated,” but the total numbers could not be verified.

US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the militants' claim of killing the Iraqi troops “is horrifying and a true depiction of the bloodlust that those terrorists represent. “ She added that an ISIL claim that 1,700 were killed could not be confirmed by the US

The grisly images could sap the morale of Iraq's security forces, but they could also heighten sectarian tensions.

Thousands of Shias are already heeding a call from their most revered spiritual leader to take up arms against the Sunni militants who have swept across the north in the worst instability in Iraq since the US withdrawal in 2011.

ISIL has vowed to take the battle to Baghdad and cities farther south housing revered Shia shrines.

( Courtesy : Dawn )

Arrest head of Qaeda.

Lebanese troops arrest head of Qaeda-linked group

The 'emir' of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades was arrested
 by the intelligence services of the Lebanese
 army in Beirut. (File photo: Reuters)

Al Arabiya News |1st jan 2013 :: Lebanese troops arrested the leader of the al-Qaeda-linked group responsible for a double suicide bombing at the Iranian embassy in Lebanon in November, the defense minister told Agence France-Presse on Wednesday.

Maged al-Maged, the "emir" of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, "was arrested by the intelligence services of the Lebanese army in Beirut," Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn said, without specifying when the arrest took place.

"He was wanted by the Lebanese authorities and is currently being interrogated in secret," the minister added.

On Wednesday, Sirajeddin Zreikat, member of the Sunni Muslim extremist group, appeared to have had his Twitter account suspended.

Zreikat has claimed responsibility for attack on the Iranian embassy in Beirut which killed 25 people.

He also warned there would be more attacks in Lebanon, if Hezbollah continued to send troops to support President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria's on going civil war.

In an interview with Al Arabiya News on the day of the embassy attack, former Iranian President Abolhassan Banisadr said “What is happening in Syria is an international war, all regional parties are involved. Iran, Lebanon and Turkey are heavily involved,” adding that the “Syrian and Lebanese people are the victims of this global war.”(Courtesy : Al Arabiya )

Iraq general among 15 killed attacking Qaeda: army

Iraq general among 15 killed attacking Qaeda: army 

When the assault began, the soldiers were hit by
suicide bombers, and when they entered buildings
 several booby traps exploded, the sources said.

BAGHDAD | AFP | 22 dec 2013 ::  Five senior Iraqi officers, including a major general, and 10 soldiers were killed Saturday in clashes with insurgents in the west of the country, military sources reported.

Major General Mohammed al-Karoui and the other 14 all died in an assault on “a hideout of the Al Qaeda network” in Sunni-majority western Anbar province near the border with Syria, the sources said.

They were killed attacking a militant camp near Rutba, 380 kilometres west of Baghdad, senior officers said.

When the assault began, the soldiers were hit by suicide bombers, and when they entered buildings several booby traps exploded, the sources said.(Courtesy:Dawn)

Bombing near Sunni mosque in northern Iraq kills 12 worshippers, wounds 24.

Bombing near Sunni mosque in northern Iraq kills 12 worshippers, wounds 24.

People carry a wounded man at the scene of a car
 bomb after it exploded as worshippers were leaving
 a Sunni mosque in Kirkuk, northern Iraq on October
 15, 2013 (AFP, Marwan Ibrahim)

Kirkuk | 15 Oct 2013 ::  A bomb ripped through a crowd of worshippers as they left a Sunni mosque in Iraq Tuesday, killing 12 people, as they marked the start of the Eid al-Adha holiday.

Three children, a policeman and an army officer were among the dead from the blast in the northern city of Kirkuk, which also wounded 26 people, police and a doctor said.

Bodies, their clothes covered in blood, were placed in the back of a police pickup truck to be taken away, an AFP journalist reported.

Angry and grieving people railed against those who carried out the attack, shouting: "God take revenge on those who are evil!"

Worshipper Khalaf al-Obaidi said he narrowly avoided the blast because he had gone to greet one of his brothers inside the mosque instead of leaving.

"Then the bomb exploded," Obaidi said.

"You look and you see your friend or your brother or your relatives (on the ground). Even an infidel would not do this," he said. "God willing, there will be security and safety for this country and its poor people."

Eid al-Adha, which commemorates the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim in Arabic) to sacrifice his son at God's command, is the biggest Muslim holiday of the year.

In Iraq, as around the Islamic world, people mark the holiday by slaughtering an animal, normally a sheep, and giving the meat to the poor.

As with various other religious occasions in Iraq, observance differs between Sunnis and Shiites.

Eid al-Adha begins for Sunnis on Tuesday this year, while most Shiites consider Wednesday to be the first of the holiday.

"We ask God to keep the ghost of sectarian strife... and civil war, on which those who sold their soul to the devil are insisting, away from our country," Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in pre-recorded remarks broadcast on Tuesday.

"Our region today is in a storm of violence moved by sectarianism and terrorists, and our country is in the heart of this storm," he said.

On Monday, UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov had called for unity in Iraq on the occasion of the holiday.

?On this Eid and at this crucial time, I would like to plead for unity and understanding among all the Iraqis and their political, religious, and civil leaders," Mladenov said in a statement.

"It is only through working together that the people of Iraq can stand up to the violence that is tearing society apart."

Other attacks in Kirkuk, Nineveh and Baghdad provinces on Tuesday killed three people and wounded three more, officials said.

Almost nothing is safe from attack by militants in Iraq, and violence has reached a level not seen since 2008, when the country was just emerging from a brutal sectarian conflict.

Secure targets such as prisons have been struck in recent months, along with cafes, markets, mosques, football fields, weddings and funerals.

Attacks on both Sunni and Shiite gatherings have raised fears of a relapse into the intense sectarian bloodshed that killed tens of thousands of people in 2006-2007.

Analysts say the Shiite-led government's failure to address the grievances of Iraq's Sunni Arab minority -- which complains of being excluded from government jobs and senior posts and of abuses by security forces -- has driven the surge in unrest.

Violence worsened sharply after security forces stormed a Sunni anti-government protest camp in northern Iraq on April 23, sparking clashes in which dozens died.

And while the authorities have made some concessions aimed at placating anti-government protesters and Sunnis in general, such as freeing prisoners and raising the salaries of Sunni anti-Al-Qaeda fighters, underlying issues remain unaddressed.

The government has enacted new security measures, stepped up executions and carried out wide-ranging operations against militants for more than two months, but has so far failed to curb the violence.

The latest unrest takes the number of people killed so far this month to more than 310, and to over 5,000 since the beginning of the year, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources.(Courtesy: AFP)

Iraq bombing kills eight: officials.

Iraq bombing kills eight: officials.

Violence in Iraq has reached a level not seen since 2008,
 when the country was just emerging from a brutal
sectarian conflict. (Reuters)

09 Oct 2013 :: A roadside bomb exploded near a truck carrying workers in Iraq on Wednesday, killing eight people, a police officer and a hospital employee said.

The blast south of Baghdad also wounded seven, they said.

Violence in Iraq has reached a level not seen since 2008, when the country was just emerging from a brutal sectarian conflict.

This year's surge in violence has raised fears of a relapse into the kind of intense Sunni-Shiite bloodshed that peaked in 2006-2007 and killed tens of thousands of people.

Diplomats and analysts say the Shiite-led government's failure to address the grievances of the Sunni Arab minority - which complains of political exclusion and abuses by security forces - has driven the rise in unrest.

With the latest violence, more than 200 people have been killed so far this month, and over 4,900 since the beginning of the year, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources.(Courtesy:The Indian Express)

Iraq violence: Baghdad hit by series of deadly blasts.

Iraq violence: Baghdad hit by series of deadly blasts.

BBC News | 07 Oct 2013 :: At least 22 people have been killed and dozens hurt in a series of explosions across the Iraqi capital, police say.

There are reports of at least six apparently co-ordinated bomb attacks in mainly commercial areas of Baghdad.

The majority were reported in mainly Shia districts, but a predominantly Sunni Muslim neighbourhood was also hit, according to Reuters news agency.

Iraq has seen a sharp rise in sectarian violence in recent months. Nearly 6,000 people have been killed this year.

Two of the explosions were reported in Doura and in the Husseiniya district, where a parked car was reportedly blown up in a busy street during the evening rush hour.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.The rate of attacks has quadrupled since the relative calm in the months before US forces pulled out in 2011.

Almost 1,000 were killed in Iraq during the past month alone, the UN has said, amid fears of a return to the sectarian conflict that peaked in 2008.

Most of the violence has been blamed on Sunni Islamist militants linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), which belongs to the over-arching Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).

Iraq has also seen a spill-over of violence from the conflict in Syria, where jihadist rebels linked to the Islamic State of Iraq, a Sunni militant umbrella group that includes al-Qaeda, have risen to prominence.

In the past two months, Iraqi security forces have reportedly arrested hundreds of alleged al-Qaeda members in and around Baghdad as part of a campaign the government is calling "Revenge for the Martyrs".

But the operations, which have taken place mostly in Sunni districts, have angered the Sunni community and failed to halt the violence.(Courtesy:BBC News)

Deadly blasts hit Baghdad markets.

Deadly blasts hit Baghdad markets.

BBC News | AP | 26 Sep 2013 :: At least 23 people have been killed in blasts targeting markets in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, officials say.

Bombs in the Shia Sabaa al-Bour area, north of Baghdad, killed up to 16 people. More than 40 others were reportedly injured as the area was packed with shoppers.

A blast in the Sunni Dora district, south of Baghdad, killed seven people.

Sectarian violence has surged across Iraq in recent months, reaching its highest level since 2008.

More than 5,000 people have died so far this year in Iraq, 800 of them in August alone, according to the United Nations.

The worsening violence is also seen a spill-over from the conflict in Syria, which has taken on increasingly sectarian overtones.

There are fears of a return to the all-out Sunni-Shia sectarian violence that peaked in 2006-2007 and killed tens of thousands of people.

In recent weeks, Iraqi security forces have reportedly arrested hundreds of alleged al-Qaeda members in and around Baghdad as part of a campaign which the Shia-led government is calling "Revenge for the martyrs".

But the operations, which have taken place mostly in Sunni districts, have angered the majority Sunni community and failed to halt the violence.

Diplomats say that the government's failure to address Sunni grievances - both their political exclusion and abuses against them by the security forces - are the main factors behind the rise in violence.(Courtesy:BBC News)

Syrian Troops Attack Sunni Village, 15 Killed.

Syrian Troops Attack Sunni Village, 15 Killed.

VOA | 21 Sep 2013 :: Syrian activists say government troops backed by militia fighters have killed at least 15 people during a raid on a Sunni village in the center of the country.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday two women and a child were among those killed in the attack on Sheik Hadid village.

The group said the fighters used guns and knives to kill the residents, calling the raid a "massacre." It said it is not clear if the rest of the men killed were rebel fighters or civilians.

Syria's government is fighting a Sunni-dominated rebel force. Over 100,000 people have been killed in the two-and-a-half-year conflict.

Diplomatic efforts have recently focused on a U.S.-Russian deal that would require Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to give up his stockpile of chemical weapons.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons says the Syrian government has begun supplying information about its chemical weapons, in line with the deal.

In a VOA interview Friday, spokesman Michael Luhan said the group has received a partial inventory of the weapons and expects to receive additional information by this weekend.

He said the OPCW would not release details of what was in Syria's declaration.

U.S. and Russian officials agreed, last Saturday, on a framework for ending Syria's chemical weapons program that included a one-week deadline for Damascus to submit a comprehensive list of such weapons.

The plan also calls for Syria to eliminate or remove all chemical weapons material and equipment by mid-2014.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Syrian non-compliance could lead to a request for punitive action in the U.N. Kerry said Friday that he had discussed prospects for a "firm and strong" U.N. resolution with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

Luhan said the next step for his agency was supposed to be a Sunday meeting to discuss plans regarding Syria's chemical weapons. However, he says the meeting has been postponed indefinitely.

A U.N. report released earlier this week showed overwhelming evidence that chemical weapons were used in an attack near Damascus, last month. However, the report does not assess blame.(Courtesy:Voice of America)

Iraq mosque blasts kill 16 people.

Iraq mosque blasts kill 16 people.

According to the Associated Press, violent attacks in Iraq have
 killed more than 3,000 people since April. (File photo: AFP)

Iraq | AFP | 21 Sep 2013 :: Two bombs exploded in a Sunni mosque in Iraq as worshippers entered for prayers on Friday, killing 16 people, police and a doctor said.

The bombs, which hit the Musab bin Omair mosque near Samarra, north of Baghdad, also wounded 15 people, the sources said.

Militants have carried out numerous attacks on both Sunni and Shiite mosques this year, raising fears of a return to all-out sectarian conflict, which peaked in 2006-2007 and killed thousands of people.

The February 2006 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra itself sparked the wave of brutal violence.

The blasts came a day after the bodies of 10 young men who had been shot dead were found in Baghdad, another reminder of the sectarian conflict in Iraq, during which militants frequently carried out summary executions.

Violence in Iraq has reached a level not seen since 2008, killing more than 4,200 people since the beginning of the year, according to an AFP toll based on security and medical sources.(Al Arabiya )

Iraqi mosque bombing during prayers kills 30.

Iraqi mosque bombing during prayers kills 30.

A boy inspects the site of a double bomb attack on a Shia mosque
 in Kasra neighbourhood in northern Baghdad on Thursday. A day
 later, an attack on another mosque during prayers killed at least
28 people, in Iraq's deadliest bout of violence in half a decade.
(Khalid Mohammed/Associated Press)

CBC News | 14 Sep 2013 :: A bomb hidden inside an air conditioner exploded Friday at a Sunni mosque north of Baghdad, the deadliest in a series of attacks in Iraq that killed 33 people, officials said.

The deadliest of Friday's attacks took place when a bomb exploded inside a Sunni mosque that was full of worshippers in the village of Umm al-Adham on the outskirts of Baqouba, a former militant stronghold 60 kilometres northeast of Baghdad, police officials said.

Police said the blast killed 30 people and wounded at least 45. Two security officials said the bomb was hidden inside a window air conditioner.

Iraq is weathering its deadliest bout of violence in half a decade, raising fears the country is returning to the widespread killing that pushed it to the brink of civil war following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

In the northern city of Mosul, police said a roadside bomb killed two soldiers and wounded two others. Also, authorities said gunmen shot and killed Khalaf Hameed, a local municipal official in Shora district, just south of Mosul.

Officials in nearby hospitals confirmed the casualty figures for all the attacks. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

The months-long surge of bloodshed is taking place against the backdrop of rising tensions between Iraq's Sunni and Shia Muslims. The tensions are being inflamed in part by the sectarian divisions reflected in the civil war in neighbouring Syria.

Members of Iraq's Sunni Arab minority have been protesting against the Shia-led government since December, angered over what they see as second-class treatment of their sect and what they see as unfair application of tough anti-terrorism measures. Attacks surged after a deadly crackdown on a Sunni protest camp by security forces in April.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Friday's attacks.(Courtesy:CBC News)

Qaeda calls for attacks inside United States.

Qaeda calls for attacks inside United States.

The Nation | 13 Sep 2013 :: Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri urged small-scale attacks inside the United States to "bleed America economically", adding he hoped eventually to see a more significant strike, according to the SITE monitoring service.

In an audio speech released online a day after the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 strikes, Zawahri said attacks "by one brother or a few of the brothers" would weaken the U.S. economy by triggering big spending on security, SITE reported.

Western counter-terrorism chiefs have warned that radicalized "lone wolves" who might have had no direct contact with al Qaeda posed as great a risk as those who carried out complex plots like the 9/11 attacks.

"We should bleed America economically by provoking it to continue in its massive expenditure on its security, for the weak point of America is its economy, which has already begun to stagger due to the military and security expenditure," he said.

Keeping America in such a state of tension and anticipation only required a few disparate attacks "here and there", he said

"As we defeated it in the gang warfare in Somalia, Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan, so we should follow it with ...war on its own land. These disparate strikes can be done by one brother or a few of the brothers."

At the same time, Muslims should seize any opportunity to land "a large strike" on the United States, even if this took years of patience.

The Sept 11, 2011 attacks, in which hijacked airliners were flown into New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon in Washington and a Pennsylvania field, triggered a global fight against al Qaeda extremists and their affiliates. Almost 3,000 people were killed in the attacks.

In his audio speech, Zawahri said Muslims should refuse to buy goods from America and its allies, as such spending only helped to fund U.S. military action in Muslim lands.(Courtesy:The Nation)

Iraqi Shia family targeted in deadly attack.

Iraqi Shia family targeted in deadly attack.

BBC News | 04 Sep 2013 :: An attack on a Shia Muslim family living near Baghdad has left at least 16 people dead, Iraqi officials say.

Six children and five women were among those killed when the neighbouring homes of two brothers in the town of Latifiya, 40km (25 miles) south of the capital, were targeted overnight.

A survivor said the gunmen shot anyone they saw before blowing up the houses.

Sectarian violence has surged across Iraq in recent months, reaching its highest level since 2008.

More than 800 people were killed in August alone, with Baghdad province worst affected.

Latifiya is in a religiously-mixed region that came to be known as the "Triangle of Death" at the peak of Iraq's insurgency in 2006 and 2007.

No group said it was behind the latest attack, but Sunni militants linked to al-Qaeda frequently target the country's Shia majority.

"Gunmen broke into our house overnight and shot my father four times in the head, they killed my two brothers, they killed my cousin, they were shooting everyone they saw, I escaped from the back door," one of the survivors, Haneen Mudhhir, told Reuters news agency from hospital.(Courtesy:BBC News)

Attacks kill at least 58 people in Iraq: Officials.

Attacks kill at least 58 people in Iraq: Officials.

BAGHDAD | 29 Aug 2013 ::  A coordinated wave of bombings tore through Shia Muslim areas in and around the Iraqi capital early Wednesday, killing at least 58 and wounding many more, officials said.

The blasts, which came in quick succession, targeted residents out shopping and on their way to work.

The attacks are the latest in a relentless wave of killing that has left thousands dead since April, marking the country's worst spate of bloodshed since 2008. They raise fears that Iraq is hurtling back toward the brink of a civil war fueled by ethnic and sectarian differences.

Insurgents deployed explosives-laden cars, suicide bombers and other bombs and targeted parking lots, outdoor markets and restaurants in predominantly Shia neighborhoods of Baghdad, according to officials. A military convoy was also hit south of the capital.

The northern neighborhood of Kazimiyah, home to a prominent, gold-domed Shia shrine, was the worst hit.

Two bombs went off in a parking lot in the neighborhood, followed by a suicide car bomber who struck onlookers who had gathered at the scene. Police said a total of 10 people were killed and 27 wounded in that attack(Courtesy:Dawn) Read More>>>

Bombs, shootings kill at least 47 across Iraq, say police.

Bombs, shootings kill at least 47 across Iraq, say police.

Another police officer said a bomb exploded near
a car ferrying a judge in the northern town of Balad,
killing three nurses walking nearby. The judge, his
brother and the driver were wounded. — Photo by AP

BAGHDAD | REUTERS | 26 Aug 2013 ::  Car bombs, roadside bombs and shootings killed at least 47 people in Iraq on Sunday, police and medical sources said, as tensions intensify between Sunni and Shia Muslims across the Middle East.

Sunni Muslim insurgents and the al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq have significantly increased their attacks this year.

More than 1,000 Iraqis were killed in July, the highest monthly death toll since 2008, according to the United Nations.

More than two years of civil war in neighbouring Syria have aggravated deep-rooted sectarian divisions and shaken Iraq's fragile coalition of Shia, Kurdish and Sunni factions.

The renewed violence, eighteen months after the last US troops withdrew from Iraq, has sparked fears of a return to the scale sectarian slaughter in 2006 and 2007.

Iraqis have suffered extreme violence for years, but since the start of 2013 the intensity of attacks on civilians has dramatically increased.

Bomb attacks have increasingly targeted cafes and other places where families gather, as well as the usual targets of military facilities and checkpoints.

The biggest of Sunday's attacks took place in central Baquba, 65 km northeast of Baghdad when a car bomb blew up near a housing complex, killing at least 11 people and wounding 34, police said.(Courtesy:Dawn)