Iraq

14 Aug 2020; MEMO: Two bombs have hit convoys supplying US-led coalition forces in Iraq’s southern governorate of Dhi Qar, security sources reported on Wednesday.

“A bomb has targeted a convoy carrying logistical support equipment for the US army on the highway at Al-Batha intersection in the western city of Nasiriyah,” Dhi Qar police commander, Hazem Al-Waeli, was quoted in a statement as saying.

BAGHDAD, Aug 12 (NNN-NINA) – A Katyusha rocket landed on Tuesday night, in the heavily fortified Green Zone, in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, without causing casualties, the Iraqi military said.

The attack took place in the evening, when a rocket fired from the abandoned military base of al-Rashid, in southeastern Baghdad, landed near the suspension bridge in the zone, which houses some of the main Iraqi government offices and the U.S. embassy, the media office of the Joint Operations Command said in a statement.

BAGHDAD, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- An Iraqi health official said on Tuesday that Iraq wants to secure the Russian COVID-19 vaccine after it is internationally approved, as the country's health ministry reported 3,396 new cases during the past 24 hours.

The Iraqi health authorities are continuing to follow up the international attempts to produce coronavirus vaccines, said Riyadh Abdul-Amir, head of the ministry's public health department, in a press release.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least two explosions have hit convoys supplying U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq in the last 24 hours, security sources said, the first on Monday evening near the southern border with Kuwait and the second on Tuesday north of Baghdad.

The explosions, which caused no casualties but did some material damage, are the latest in a string of such incidents in recent weeks. An attack in southern Iraq on Sunday hit a convoy carrying supplies to coalition forces, the military said.

11 Aug 2020; MEMO: With 3,484 new coronavirus cases, Iraq on Monday reported the highest-ever daily COVID-19 infections, according to the Health Ministry, reports Anadolu Agency.

Meanwhile, the ministry reported 72 additional fatalities from the virus.

Monday’s figures bring the total case count to 153,599 and the number of fatalities to 5,464, along with 109,790 recoveries.

BAGHDAD, Aug 10 (NNN-NINA) – A roadside bomb, struck a convoy of trucks, carrying logistical equipment, belonging to the U.S.-led coalition forces in southern Iraq, the Iraqi military said yesterday.

The attack took place on the international road in Dhi Qar Province, causing minor damage to one of the vehicles, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said, without revealing the exact timing of the attack.

BAGHDAD, Aug 9 (NNN-NINA) – Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, will pay an official visit to the U.S. to meet with U.S. President Trump, on Aug 20, for talks on bilateral ties and cooperation in various fields.

Al-Kadhimi would head a government delegation, which came at an invitation from the United States, said a statement by the Premier’s office.

The visit will include discussing challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as, bilateral relations and means to enhance cooperation in the fields of security, energy, economy, and investment.

07 Aug 2020; MEMO: The Iraqi Ministry of Electricity yesterday announced its intention to import 200 megawatts of electricity from Turkey to address the severe power shortage it is facing, Anadolu reported.

A ministry spokesman, Ahmed Al-Abadi, told the news agency that after obtaining the approval of Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, the ministry began negotiations with Turkey to import 200 megawatts of electricity through the Mosul Dam Station, in the north of the country.

BASRA, Iraq (AP) — In Iraq’s oil-rich south, the scorching summer months pose painful new choices in the age of the coronavirus: stay at home in the sweltering heat with electricity cut off for hours, or go out and risk the virus.

This is Zain al-Abidin’s predicament. A resident of al-Hartha district, in Basra province, al-Abidin lost his job due to pandemic-related restrictions. During the day he listens helplessly to his four-month old daughter cry in the unbearable heat, too poor to afford private generators to offset up to eight-hour power cuts.

BAGHDAD, Aug 1 (NNN-NINA) – The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), welcomed Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s announcement, of setting June 6, 2021, a date for early elections.

“Early elections fulfil a key popular demand on the road to greater stability and democracy in Iraq,” UNAMI said in a statement.

It said, the United Nations is ready to provide support and technical advice as requested by Iraq, to ensure “free, fair, and credible elections that win the public’s trust.”