The U.S. Army announced Thursday that 2,100 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) will deploy to Iraq this fall. The soldiers from 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, based in at Fort Polk in Louisiana will replace the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, in a regular rotation …
Read More »Iraqi FM to visit India
India is likely to seek from Baghdad the latest information on the fate of 39 Indians missing in Iraq for the last three years when Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari pays his first official visit to India from 24 July. These Indians, mostly from Punjab, were abducted by ISIS militants …
Read More »Iraq paramilitary troops kill three senior IS leaders
Three senior Islamic State leaders were killed in Tal Afar town, west of Mosul, the Shia-led paramilitary troops said on Friday. A statement by Saraya al-Jihad militia, affiliated to al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) said troops “identified the bodies of IS members, who were killed on Thursday while infiltrating behind …
Read More »Egypt launches largest military base in Middle East
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated on Saturday the largest military base of the Middle East in the coastal city of Alexandria. The president raised the Armed Forces flag on the new base in el Hammam city, west of Alexandria. The military base was named after late president Mohamed Naguib, …
Read More »US warns South Sudan regional plan is last chance for peace
The United States warned on Thursday that a new regional plan to shore up South Sudan’s failing peace agreement was the last chance for Juba’s leaders to end the war, now in its fourth year. US Deputy Ambassador Michele Sison told the UN Security Council that Washington will reconsider its …
Read More »Egypt forces kill 30 extremists in Sinai
Egyptian forces have killed 30 extremists during several days of security operations in the Sinai Peninsula involving the army, air force and police, the military said on Saturday. The Egyptian authorities are battling an insurgency by the Islamic State (ISIS) group in North Sinai that has killed hundreds of members …
Read More »Ram Nath Kovind elected as new India President
Ram Nath Kovind, the son of a modest farmer, secured two-thirds of the votes from nearly 5,000 legislators. India’s legislators have elected Ram Nath Kovind, a member of Hinduism’s most oppressed caste, as the country’s 14th president—a triumph for the Bharatiya Janata Party, which nominated him. A total of 4,895 …
Read More »US welcomes UAE anti-terror steps
The US State Department on Wednesday released the Country Reports on Terrorism 2016, where it highlighted the UAE’s increased counterterrorism efforts. “The nation increased its counter-terrorism prosecutions in the last year, with the Federal Supreme Court’s State Security Court hearing more than three dozen separate terrorism-related cases,” it said.
Read More »Iraqi forces recapture village in Mosul
Iraqi forces on Thursday regained control over Imam Gharbi, a village south of Mosul, from Daesh militants who had seized it as their defence of their stronghold in the city crumbled, Iraqi police said. The action formed part of the next phase of the US-backed government’s campaign to drive Daesh …
Read More »Czech FM: EU military role in Libya to reduce migrants
The Czech Republic’s foreign minister has suggested that the European Union consider a military engagement in Libya to reduce the flow of migrants arriving by boat from there to Europe. Lubomir Zaoralek says that “we must speak very openly what the real instruments are to stabilize Libya.” He told the …
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