Middle Orient

U.K. Defense Minister Michael Fallon arrived in Baghdad on Monday morning to discuss the ongoing fight against Daesh and Iraq’s precarious political situation with Iraqi officials. Iraqi Interior Minister Qassem al-Araji received the British defense minister at Baghdad’s international airport this morning.

US-backed Syrian opposition factions will not let forces backing the regime of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad cross the Euphrates River in their bid to recover eastern Syria, their commander said. Syrian opposition commander Abu Khawla said a civilian administration would be set up to run areas of Deir al-Zor province being …

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) planned referendum on independence was “unconstitutional” on Tuesday, hours after parliament voted against the regional plebiscite. “I call upon the Kurdish leadership to come to Baghdad and conclude the dialogue,” Abadi said in a press conference. Abadi’s remarks came …

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned the terrorist attacks in southern Iraq and called for the perpetrators to be quickly brought to justice. In a statement from his spokesperson, the Secretary-General expressed “his sincere condolences to the families of the victims and to the Government and people of Iraq.”

The US and UAE’s ground forces will begin a joint military exercise in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, as part of efforts to consolidate their bilateral relations and exchange training and military expertise. Code-named Iron Union 5, the drill is an extension of a series of Iron Claw exercises, which the …

The United States on Friday strongly urged northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) to call off a controversial referendum on independence from Baghdad. The announcement comes hours after the KRG parliament voted to hold the poll next week despite opposition from the central government and Iraq’s neighbours.

At least 14 Daesh terrorists were killed Tuesday in airstrikes carried out by a U.S.-led coalition in Iraq’s northern Kirkuk province, according to local security sources. “An aircraft belonging to the international coalition targeted a Daesh bomb factory in Hawija’s Riyadh district​​ southwest of Kirkuk city,” Khalid al-Numan, a Kirkuk …

The Iraqi prime minister says the country is in its final stages of liberation from ISIL militants. As Iraqi forces battled to push the extemists out of their last remaining pockets of territory, Haider al Abadi attributed the forthcoming victory over ISIL to iraqi unity and solidarity. “Iraq was at …

Iraqi army warplanes destroyed on Wednesday a convoy of Islamic State militants in northeastern Diyala, a security commander was quoted saying. Maher al-Ezzawi, commander of Dijlah Operations, said that army fighter jets bombarded the convoy at Wadi Thallab (80 km northeast of Baqubah), killing al militants in it. Ezzawi said …

Major General George Smith, the CENTCOM Director of Strategy, Plans, and Policy reiterated the United States support for the Lebanese army during a short visit he paid to Beirut, a US embassy statement said on Saturday. Smith met with General Joseph Aoun on Thursday, September 7, the press release said.