Iraq

BAGHDAD, Jan 24 (NNN-NINA) – Five paramilitary Hashd Shaabi members were killed and four others injured yesterday, in an attack by militants of extremist Daesh group, in Salahuddin Province, north of Iraq’s capital Baghdad, a provincial police source said.

The five Hashd Shaabi members killed, included the Brigade’s commander, Abu Alyaa al-Husseini.

Reinforcement troops were dispatched to the area to support the Hashd Shaabi members, he added, noting, there were no immediate reports about casualties of the extremist militants.

24 Jan 2021; MEMO: Three rockets struck the vicinity of Baghdad International Airport, according to the Iraqi Defence Ministry on Saturday, Anadolu Agency reports.

A ministry statement said two rockets landed outside the airport, while the third hit a house in the Al-Jihad neighbourhood, west of Baghdad.

No casualties were reported in the overnight attacks.

There was no claim of responsibility for the rocket attacks.

23 Jan 2021; MEMO: Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi has announced the firing of five senior security officials, stressing that he would personally oversee reforms to address "challenges" facing intelligence services in the country, Anadolu Agency reported on Friday.

BAGHDAD, Jan 20 (NNN-NINA) – Iraq approved the emergency use of China’s Sinopharm and British AstraZeneca vaccines, to contain the spread of COVID-19.

The Iraqi Ministry of Health said, the Iraqi National Board for Selection of Drugs (NBSD) approved the emergency use of the two vaccines.

Health Minister, Hassan al-Tamimi, who held a meeting with the NBSD, said, the ministry made all logistical preparations to receive the vaccines and identified the groups that would take the vaccines, the ministry said.

11 Jan 2021; MEMO: Iraq's Water Resources Minister Mehdi Rashid Al-Hamdani yesterday warned that his country would face a water crisis if it does not reach a deal with Turkey, the New Khaleej reported.

Al-Hamdani stressed on the importance of finalising the issue of water with Turkey, the news site reported Al-Arabiya TV saying, "but Turkey wants two months to study this issue."

10 Jan 2021; MEMO: Iraq denounced on Saturday as "unacceptable" a US decision to blacklist the leader of a state umbrella group for mainly Iran-backed Shia militia, Reuters reports.

Washington imposed sanctions on Friday on Faleh al-Fayyad, head of Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF).

08 Jan 2021; MEMO: An Iraqi court yesterday issued an arrest warrant for outgoing US President Donald Trump on charges of assassinating the deputy head of Iraq's Hashd Al-Shaabi or Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), Abu-Mahdi Al-Muhandis, and 11 others.

07 Jan 2021; MEMO: The National Iraqi Alliance has called on Wednesday for the release of former army commanders of the late President Saddam Hussein era, RT reported.

BAGHDAD, Jan 6 (NNN-NINA) – Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi said, only hundreds of U.S. troops would remain in Iraq, after the withdrawal of half of them from the country.

Al-Kadhimi said, during a speech on the eve of the centenary of the Iraqi Army Day, the U.S. troops’ withdrawal came, due to “the ongoing strategic dialogue between Iraq and the United States, that yield in the withdrawal of batches of U.S. troops, during the past months. The withdrawal of more than half of them will be complete in the coming days.”

05 Jan 2021; MEMO: The Ministry of Finance and Economy in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq yesterday suspended the salaries of more than 10,000 people who receive multiple payments from the government.

The ministry explained in a statement that "the decision affects 10,609 people including pensioners who receive two or more salaries from the government", adding that the decision comes in the framework of a reform plan adopted by the government.