Iraq

BAGHDAD, Oct 21 (NNN-NINA) – Iraqi security forces, found a mass grave containing the remains of over 50 people, believed to be killed by Daesh militants, in Kirkuk province, the Iraqi military said, yesterday.

A federal police force found the bodies in one of the villages, while hunting for the militants near the provincial capital Kirkuk, some 250 km north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, Yehia Rasool, spokesman of the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces, said in a statement.

BAGHDAD, Oct 12 (NNN-NINA) – The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said yesterday that, Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, is expected to pay an official visit to Britain.

A statement by the ministry said, Iraqi Foreign Minister, Fuad Hussein, received in his office, the British Ambassador to Iraq, Stephen Hickey, and the two discussed al-Kadhimi’s visit to Britain, without giving further details about the date of the visit.

“They also touched on developments of issues of common interests in the region and the world,” the brief statement said.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An array of Iran-backed Iraqi militia groups have agreed to suspend rocket attacks on U.S. forces on condition that Iraq’s government presents a timetable for a withdrawal of American troops, one of the groups said on Sunday.

“The factions have presented a conditional ceasefire,” said Mohammed Mohi, spokesman for the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah group.

“It includes all factions of the (anti-U.S.) resistance, including those who have been targeting U.S. forces,” he told Reuters.

BAGHDAD, Oct 10 (NNN-NINA) – The Iraqi government struck a historic agreement with the government of the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, over the status of the predominantly Yazidi city of Sinjar, in the north province of Nineveh, according to a government statement.

The agreement to restore stability and normalise the situation in Sinjar came during a meeting held by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi with officials from the federal government and from Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), said a statement by the Prime Minister’s office.

BAGHDAD, Oct 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Two Katyusha rocket attacks targeted Baghdad airport and the heavily fortified Green Zone in the Iraqi capital on Monday without causing human casualty, the Iraqi military said.

One of the attacks took place before dawn when two rockets were fired from al-Jihad neighborhood in southwestern Baghdad and landed on al-Jadriyah neighborhood near the Green Zone, without causing human casualty, the media office of the Joint Operations Command said in a statement.

30 Sep 2020; MEMO: The “astronomical” salaries of the president, ministers, members of parliament and other senior ranking officials in Iraq are depleting the state’s budget and wasting public money, Iraqis have said.

The salaries of senior Iraqi officials have resurfaced after social media users circulated the Court of Cassation’s objection to a request filed by former Iraqi President, Ghazi Ajil Al-Yawer, against a decision to suspend his retirement pay under the Unified Retirement Law of 2014.

30 Sep 2020; MEMO: Several rockets landed last night close to a US-led coalition military base outside Erbil International Airport in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Region.

“There was no damage or casualties,” said coalition spokesman Colonel Wayne Marotto. “The incident is under investigation.”

BAGHDAD, Sept 29 (NNN-NINA) – Three children and two women were killed on Monday, when two rockets landed on their house, near the Baghdad International Airport, the Iraqi military said.

Two other children were also wounded in the Katyusha rocket attack, that struck and destroyed the family’s house in Albu-Amir area, in the southwest of the Iraqi capital, in the afternoon, the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said in a statement.

The rockets were fired by “criminal gangs and outlawed groups” from the nearby al-Jihad neighbourhood, the statement added.

BAGHDAD, Sept 29 (NNN-NINA) – Iraqi Foreign Minister, Fuad Hussein, paid an official visit to neighbouring Iran, during the past two days for discussions over the situation in the Middle East region and bilateral relations.

A statement by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, issued on Monday, said Hussein conveyed a verbal message from Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, to Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, which “focused on developments in the region and reviewed the most important expected possibilities.”

BAGHDAD, Sept 28 (NNN-NINA) – Iraqi top leaders on Sunday confirmed that the recent attacks by unidentified militant groups on diplomatic missions are targeting Iraq’s sovereignty.

A statement by the Iraqi presidency office said, President Barham Salih held a meeting with Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, Parliament Speaker, Mohammed al-Halbousi, and the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, Faiq Zidan, as the top officials discussed the current security and political situation.