FIFA lifted its three-decade ban on Iraq hosting international football on Friday with the cities of Arbil, Basra and Karbala given the go-ahead to stage official matches.

&quot;We are allowing international matches to be staged in the cities of Arbil, Basra and Karbala,&quot; FIFA president Gianni Infantino told reporters after a meeting of the FIFA Council in Bogota.

The three cities had been allowed to organise friendlies in the last year provided the security situation was &quot;stable&quot;.

Iraq will host Qatar and Syria for a friendly tournament starting on March 21 in Basra.

&quot;FIFA has given the green light for the resumption but the organisers of the championship must take the final decision,&quot; added Infantino.

FIFA added that it cannot &quot;yet&quot; agree to a request from the Iraqi authorities to organise matches in the capital of Baghdad, but Infantino promised that the city&#39;s application would continue to be studied.

For years, Iraq has been busily building stadiums and pressurising stars and the sport&#39;s governing bodies to help them return to the international fold.

Friday&#39;s decision followed an international friendly between Iraq and Saudi Arabia in Basra on February 28, their first on Iraqi soil in 40 years.

It was watched by Asian Football Confederation head Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa who said &quot;the time had come&quot; to end the three-decade ban.

Iraq has not played full internationals on home turf since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

The ban, covering all but domestic matches, stayed in place after the US-led invasion of 2003 toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.

It was briefly lifted in 2012, but a power outage during an Iraq-Jordan match in the Iraqi Kurdish capital Arbil led FIFA to promptly reinstate it.

Iraq will host Qatar and Syria for a friendly tournament starting on March 21 in Basra

FIFA lifted its three-decade ban on Iraq hosting international football on Friday with the cities of Arbil, Basra and Karbala given the go-ahead to stage official matches. "We are allowing international matches to be staged in the cities of Arbil, Basra and Karbala," FIFA president Gianni Infantino told reporters after a meeting of the FIFA Council in Bogota. The three cities had been allowed to organise friendlies in the last year provided the security situation was "stable". Iraq will host Qatar and Syria for a friendly tournament starting on March 21 in Basra. "FIFA has given the green light for the resumption but the organisers of the championship must take the final decision," added Infantino. FIFA added that it cannot "yet" agree to a request from the Iraqi authorities to organise matches in the capital of Baghdad, but Infantino promised that the city's application would continue to be studied. For years, Iraq has been busily building stadiums and pressurising stars and the sport's governing bodies to help them return to the international fold. Friday's decision followed an international friendly between Iraq and Saudi Arabia in Basra on February 28, their first on Iraqi soil in 40 years. It was watched by Asian Football Confederation head Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa who said "the time had come" to end the three-decade ban. Iraq has not played full internationals on home turf since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. The ban, covering all but domestic matches, stayed in place after the US-led invasion of 2003 toppled dictator Saddam Hussein. It was briefly lifted in 2012, but a power outage during an Iraq-Jordan match in the Iraqi Kurdish capital Arbil led FIFA to promptly reinstate it.

FIFA lifts three-decade ban on Iraq hosting international matches

Seven US troops were killed when the helicopter carrying them crashed in western Iraq, a US defense official said today.

&quot;There were seven people aboard, they are all believed to be dead,&quot; the official said, adding they were US service members.

&quot;It was a routine troop transport operation going from Iraq to Syria, nothing out of the ordinary.&quot;

'There were seven people aboard, they are all believed to be dead,' the official said, adding they were US service members

Seven US troops were killed when the helicopter carrying them crashed in western Iraq, a US defense official said today. "There were seven people aboard, they are all believed to be dead," the official said, adding they were US service members. "It was a routine troop transport operation going from Iraq to Syria, nothing out of the ordinary."

Seven US troops killed in Iraq helicopter crash: US official

A total of 18 Kurdistan Workers&#39; Party (PYD/PKK) terrorists have been neutralised in Turkey&#39;s southeastern provinces of Diyarbakir in Mardin and northern Iraq this week, Anadolu Agency quoted a Turkish General Staff as saying.

One of the neutralised terrorists was from the senior cadre of the PKK. One soldier was martyred and two were wounded during the operations in the same period.

Meanwhile, 7,858 people attempting to illegally cross Turkish borders were also detained during this period.

The Turkish military is also involved in an operation called &#39;Olive Branch&#39;, which was launched on January 20 to clear PKK and IS terrorists from Afrin in northwestern Syria.

Under operation &#39;Olive Branch&#39; 3,213 terrorists have been neutralised till now. As per the military statement, 42 soldiers were killed and 202 were wounded, out of which 117 soldiers returned to their duties after medical treatment.

It has been listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

The PKK is responsible for the deaths of more than 1,200 Turkish security personnel and civilians.

An improvement of relations between Turkey and Iraq is likely to see the two sides take part in joint operations against the Kurdistan Workers&rsquo; Party (PKK) in the Qandil Mountains of northern Iraq.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, during a visit to Vienna, said the joint Iraqi-Turkish operation could start after the May 12 elections in Iraq. Iraqi authorities have yet to officially comment.

The military cooperation would target any Islamic State (ISIS) militants in northern Iraq.

One of the neutralised terrorists was from the senior cadre of the PKK. One soldier was martyred and two were wounded during the operations in the same period

A total of 18 Kurdistan Workers' Party (PYD/PKK) terrorists have been neutralised in Turkey's southeastern provinces of Diyarbakir in Mardin and northern Iraq this week, Anadolu Agency quoted a Turkish General Staff as saying. One of the neutralised terrorists was from the senior cadre of the PKK. One soldier was martyred and two were wounded during the operations in the same period. Meanwhile, 7,858 people attempting to illegally cross Turkish borders were also detained during this period. The Turkish military is also involved in an operation called 'Olive Branch', which was launched on January 20 to clear PKK and IS terrorists from Afrin in northwestern Syria. Under operation 'Olive Branch' 3,213 terrorists have been neutralised till now. As per the military statement, 42 soldiers were killed and 202 were wounded, out of which 117 soldiers returned to their duties after medical treatment. It has been listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. The PKK is responsible for the deaths of more than 1,200 Turkish security personnel and civilians. An improvement of relations between Turkey and Iraq is likely to see the two sides take part in joint operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Qandil Mountains of northern Iraq. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, during a visit to Vienna, said the joint Iraqi-Turkish operation could start after the May 12 elections in Iraq. Iraqi authorities have yet to officially comment. The military cooperation would target any Islamic State (ISIS) militants in northern Iraq.

18 PKK terrorists neutalised in Turkey, Iraq

Nearly 300 women ran through the streets of Iraq&#39;s Mosul on Thursday, in a demonstration of their freedoms eight months after the city was retaken from the Islamic State group.

Mosul&#39;s first ever women&#39;s marathon was held to coincide with International Women&#39;s Day.

The 900-metre run was not the length of a full marathon, but organiser Fatima Khalaf said it marked a real change for women in the city, who faced harsh restrictions under the hardline rule of the jihadists.

The race aimed to &quot;urge women and girls in the city to actively reclaim their rights,&quot; the 30-year-old said.

Trophy in hand, winner Najla Abdelhadi said she was &quot;very happy&quot;.

The 24-year-old sports education student said she her victory would &quot;send a message to the women of Mosul about the need to... take a step towards taking their rightful place in society&quot;.

Women lined either side of the street during the marathon, waving placards drawing attention to the harsh realities Iraqi women have faced.&nbsp;

&quot;You Are Not Powerless&quot; read one sign. &quot;Women Can Do It&quot; read another.

Men also showed up to watch the event. Mustafa Qais, 24, carried a sign reading: &quot;I support women getting the same rights as men.&quot;

The jihadists of IS seized control of Mosul in mid-2014, making it the de facto Iraqi capital of their &quot;caliphate&quot;.

During its three-year rule over nearly a third of Iraq, IS subjected hundreds of thousands of women to its rigid interpretation of Islam, using beatings and executions as punishments.

In Mosul and its surrounding province, jihadists raped, kidnapped and enslaved thousands of women and adolescent girls, especially those of the Yazidi ethnic minority.&nbsp;

The marathon was one of a series of events that have seen residents reclaim public spaces since Iraqi forces retook the city in July, including Valentine&#39;s Day market last month.

&nbsp;

Nearly 300 women ran through the streets of Iraq's Mosul in a demonstration of their freedom from the Islamic State group

Nearly 300 women ran through the streets of Iraq's Mosul on Thursday, in a demonstration of their freedoms eight months after the city was retaken from the Islamic State group. Mosul's first ever women's marathon was held to coincide with International Women's Day. The 900-metre run was not the length of a full marathon, but organiser Fatima Khalaf said it marked a real change for women in the city, who faced harsh restrictions under the hardline rule of the jihadists. The race aimed to "urge women and girls in the city to actively reclaim their rights," the 30-year-old said. Trophy in hand, winner Najla Abdelhadi said she was "very happy". The 24-year-old sports education student said she her victory would "send a message to the women of Mosul about the need to... take a step towards taking their rightful place in society". Women lined either side of the street during the marathon, waving placards drawing attention to the harsh realities Iraqi women have faced. "You Are Not Powerless" read one sign. "Women Can Do It" read another. Men also showed up to watch the event. Mustafa Qais, 24, carried a sign reading: "I support women getting the same rights as men." The jihadists of IS seized control of Mosul in mid-2014, making it the de facto Iraqi capital of their "caliphate". During its three-year rule over nearly a third of Iraq, IS subjected hundreds of thousands of women to its rigid interpretation of Islam, using beatings and executions as punishments. In Mosul and its surrounding province, jihadists raped, kidnapped and enslaved thousands of women and adolescent girls, especially those of the Yazidi ethnic minority. The marathon was one of a series of events that have seen residents reclaim public spaces since Iraqi forces retook the city in July, including Valentine's Day market last month.

Here is how Mosul women celebrated women's day

The Islamic State group in Afghanistan is inviting Muslims worldwide to come to the war-torn country if they cannot reach Syria or Iraq, as it seeks to expand its foothold.

A 25-minute propaganda film released by the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (IS-K) on March 4 promotes IS strongholds in Afghanistan&#39;s north and east as an &quot;option for immigration&quot;, the SITE Intelligence Group said on Tuesday.

&quot;O you Muslims in every corner of the world! Immigrate to Khorasan! If you are incapable of immigrating to Iraq and Sham (Syria), come to Khorasan,&quot; a fighter said on the video.

The name Khorasan refers to a historic region which includes parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and neighbouring countries.

The video comes amid growing concerns that IS fighters fleeing battlefields in Syria and Iraq are finding their way to Afghanistan, where the group has a small but potent presence.

It was recently reported that French and Algerian fighters, some arriving from Syria, had joined IS in the northern Afghan province of Jowzjan.

A German national was also recently arrested with the Taliban in the restive southern province of Helmand, Afghan officials said last week. He is one of the only Europeans found among the militants throughout the 16-year war.

The IS video published with an Arabic narration showed some fighters delivering messages in Pashto, Persian and Uzbek languages.&nbsp;

It opens with a narration mocking US President Donald Trump&#39;s vow to destroy the group in Afghanistan and goes on to show executions of prisoners and the training of child soldiers. &nbsp;

IS-K was attempting to turn &quot;rumours&quot; of foreign fighters moving to Afghanistan from Syria &quot;into reality&quot;, Borhan Osman, told by a senior analyst at International Crisis Group.

But the group would struggle to persuade fighters to travel as far as Afghanistan, said Emily Winterbotham, a senior research fellow at the UK-based Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies.

&quot;It&#39;s trying to keep IS-K viable and the IS-K brand going, but the reality is Afghanistan is still a long way away from Syria and Iraq - it&rsquo;s not an easy journey,&quot; she said.

The Islamic State group, or Daesh as it is locally known, first emerged in Afghanistan in 2014 as NATO combat troops withdrew from the country and handed over responsibility to Afghan security forces.

Since then, the group has carried out multiple attacks mostly in urban areas, killing hundreds of people across the country despite a US-led bombing campaign against their known hideouts.&nbsp;

Since 2016 it has dramatically escalated its attacks in Kabul, adding to the dangers already faced by civilians, with the UN citing the capital as one of the deadliest places in the country.

The Islamic State group in Afghanistan is inviting Muslims worldwide to come to Afghanistan if they cannot reach Syria or Iraq

The Islamic State group in Afghanistan is inviting Muslims worldwide to come to the war-torn country if they cannot reach Syria or Iraq, as it seeks to expand its foothold. A 25-minute propaganda film released by the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (IS-K) on March 4 promotes IS strongholds in Afghanistan's north and east as an "option for immigration", the SITE Intelligence Group said on Tuesday. "O you Muslims in every corner of the world! Immigrate to Khorasan! If you are incapable of immigrating to Iraq and Sham (Syria), come to Khorasan," a fighter said on the video. The name Khorasan refers to a historic region which includes parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and neighbouring countries. The video comes amid growing concerns that IS fighters fleeing battlefields in Syria and Iraq are finding their way to Afghanistan, where the group has a small but potent presence. It was recently reported that French and Algerian fighters, some arriving from Syria, had joined IS in the northern Afghan province of Jowzjan. A German national was also recently arrested with the Taliban in the restive southern province of Helmand, Afghan officials said last week. He is one of the only Europeans found among the militants throughout the 16-year war. The IS video published with an Arabic narration showed some fighters delivering messages in Pashto, Persian and Uzbek languages. It opens with a narration mocking US President Donald Trump's vow to destroy the group in Afghanistan and goes on to show executions of prisoners and the training of child soldiers. IS-K was attempting to turn "rumours" of foreign fighters moving to Afghanistan from Syria "into reality", Borhan Osman, told by a senior analyst at International Crisis Group. But the group would struggle to persuade fighters to travel as far as Afghanistan, said Emily Winterbotham, a senior research fellow at the UK-based Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies. "It's trying to keep IS-K viable and the IS-K brand going, but the reality is Afghanistan is still a long way away from Syria and Iraq - it’s not an easy journey," she said. The Islamic State group, or Daesh as it is locally known, first emerged in Afghanistan in 2014 as NATO combat troops withdrew from the country and handed over responsibility to Afghan security forces. Since then, the group has carried out multiple attacks mostly in urban areas, killing hundreds of people across the country despite a US-led bombing campaign against their known hideouts. Since 2016 it has dramatically escalated its attacks in Kabul, adding to the dangers already faced by civilians, with the UN citing the capital as one of the deadliest places in the country.

IS group calls on Muslims to immigrate to Afghanistan

Iraq has overtaken Saudi Arabia by a wide margin to become India&#39;s top crude oil supplier, meeting more than a fifth of the country&#39;s oil needs in the current financial year.

Saudi Arabia traditionally has been India&#39;s top oil source but in the April-January period of 2017-18, Iraq dethroned it, supplying 38.9 million tonnes (MT) of oil, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Monday.

In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, he said Saudi Arabia supplied 30.9 MT of crude oil in the first 10 months of the current fiscal. India imported 184.4 MT of crude oil during the period as compared to 213.9 MT in the entire 2016-17 fiscal, and 202.8 MT in 2015-16.

Despite India cutting imports over delays in award of contract for a gas field development, Iran continued to be the third largest supplier selling 18.4 MT during April-January. This is the second year in a row that Iran has occupied the third position.

Iran was India&#39;s second biggest supplier of crude oil after Saudi Arabia till 2010-11 but western sanctions over its suspected nuclear programme relegated it to the 7th spot in the subsequent years. In 2013-14 and 2014-15, India bought 11 MT and 10.95 MT respectively from it.

Sourcing from Iran increased to 12.7 MT in 2015-16, giving it the sixth spot. In the following year, the Iranian supplies jumped to 27.2 MT to catapult it to the third spot, Pradhan said. Venezuela is India&#39;s fourth largest supplier with 15.5 MT during April-January, followed by Nigeria with 14.9 MT, he said.

India is 80 per cent dependent on imports to meet its oil needs. The easing of Western sanctions in 2015 has led to the Indian refiners raising their purchase from Iran. Kuwait, which was the third largest supplier in 2013-14, has steadily slipped, supplying just 10.2 MT in the first 10 months of the current fiscal. It had in 2014-15 supplied 17.9 MT crude, which came down to 11 MT in 2015-16 and 9.8 MT in 2016-17, Pradhan said.

India&#39;s dependence on the West Asia for its crude oil needs has increased 58 percent in 2014-15 to 63.7 per cent in the April-January period of this fiscal, he said. India had imported 109.9 MT out of 189.4 MT of total crude imports in 2014-15 from the region. In the current fiscal so far, the Middle East has accounted for 117.5 MT of crude oil supplies from India.

Saudi Arabia traditionally has been India's top oil source but in the April-January period of 2017-18, Iraq dethroned it, supplying 38.9 million tonnes (MT) of oil, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Monday

Iraq has overtaken Saudi Arabia by a wide margin to become India's top crude oil supplier, meeting more than a fifth of the country's oil needs in the current financial year. Saudi Arabia traditionally has been India's top oil source but in the April-January period of 2017-18, Iraq dethroned it, supplying 38.9 million tonnes (MT) of oil, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Monday. In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, he said Saudi Arabia supplied 30.9 MT of crude oil in the first 10 months of the current fiscal. India imported 184.4 MT of crude oil during the period as compared to 213.9 MT in the entire 2016-17 fiscal, and 202.8 MT in 2015-16. Despite India cutting imports over delays in award of contract for a gas field development, Iran continued to be the third largest supplier selling 18.4 MT during April-January. This is the second year in a row that Iran has occupied the third position. Iran was India's second biggest supplier of crude oil after Saudi Arabia till 2010-11 but western sanctions over its suspected nuclear programme relegated it to the 7th spot in the subsequent years. In 2013-14 and 2014-15, India bought 11 MT and 10.95 MT respectively from it. Sourcing from Iran increased to 12.7 MT in 2015-16, giving it the sixth spot. In the following year, the Iranian supplies jumped to 27.2 MT to catapult it to the third spot, Pradhan said. Venezuela is India's fourth largest supplier with 15.5 MT during April-January, followed by Nigeria with 14.9 MT, he said. India is 80 per cent dependent on imports to meet its oil needs. The easing of Western sanctions in 2015 has led to the Indian refiners raising their purchase from Iran. Kuwait, which was the third largest supplier in 2013-14, has steadily slipped, supplying just 10.2 MT in the first 10 months of the current fiscal. It had in 2014-15 supplied 17.9 MT crude, which came down to 11 MT in 2015-16 and 9.8 MT in 2016-17, Pradhan said. India's dependence on the West Asia for its crude oil needs has increased 58 percent in 2014-15 to 63.7 per cent in the April-January period of this fiscal, he said. India had imported 109.9 MT out of 189.4 MT of total crude imports in 2014-15 from the region. In the current fiscal so far, the Middle East has accounted for 117.5 MT of crude oil supplies from India.

Iraq pips Saudi Arabia to become India's top crude oil supplier, meets more than a fifth of country's needs

Turkey neutralised at least 2,434 terrorists belonging to the Kurdistan Workers&#39; Party (PYD/PKK) and Islamic State (IS) group in a military operation in Syria&#39;s Afrin region, the Turkish general staff said in a statement on Saturday.

The Turkish army took control of the outer edge of Syria&#39;s Afrin region, state media said, as Ankara said it was readying for a &quot;new battle&quot; by deploying police special forces.&nbsp;

A total of 2,222 militants have been &quot;neutralized&quot; since the commencement of Turkey&#39;s &quot;Operation Olive Branch&quot; in Syria&#39;s Afrin region, the military said in a statement Thursday.&nbsp;

The word &quot;neutralised&quot; is used to imply that the terrorists in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.

On January 20, Turkey began an air and ground offensive supporting Syrian rebels against the US-backed YPG in its western enclave of Afrin. The main aim of the Turkish forces is to establish security and stability along Turkey&#39;s borders as well as to protect Syrians from terrorist oppression and cruelty.

&quot;The operation is being carried out under the framework of Turkey&#39;s rights based on international law, United Nations Security Council resolutions, its self-defence rights under the UN charter, and respect for Syria&#39;s territorial integrity,&quot; the Turkish military added.

Also, 924 terror targets have been destroyed ever since the military operations began in January.

In January 2018, the Turkish military began an operation in the Kurdish-majority Afrin Canton and the Tel Rifaat Area of Shahba Canton in Northern Syria.&nbsp;

The PKK, which is based in Turkey, Iraq and parts of Syria, has been involved in an armed conflict with Turkey for the past few years. Its aim is to achieve the objective of creating an independent Kurdish state.

It has been listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

The PKK is responsible for the deaths of more than 1,200 Turkish security personnel and civilians.

The Turkish army took control of the outer edge of Syria's Afrin region, state media said, as Ankara said it was readying for a 'new battle' by deploying police special forces

Turkey neutralised at least 2,434 terrorists belonging to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PYD/PKK) and Islamic State (IS) group in a military operation in Syria's Afrin region, the Turkish general staff said in a statement on Saturday. The Turkish army took control of the outer edge of Syria's Afrin region, state media said, as Ankara said it was readying for a "new battle" by deploying police special forces. A total of 2,222 militants have been "neutralized" since the commencement of Turkey's "Operation Olive Branch" in Syria's Afrin region, the military said in a statement Thursday. The word "neutralised" is used to imply that the terrorists in question either surrendered or were killed or captured. On January 20, Turkey began an air and ground offensive supporting Syrian rebels against the US-backed YPG in its western enclave of Afrin. The main aim of the Turkish forces is to establish security and stability along Turkey's borders as well as to protect Syrians from terrorist oppression and cruelty. "The operation is being carried out under the framework of Turkey's rights based on international law, United Nations Security Council resolutions, its self-defence rights under the UN charter, and respect for Syria's territorial integrity," the Turkish military added. Also, 924 terror targets have been destroyed ever since the military operations began in January. In January 2018, the Turkish military began an operation in the Kurdish-majority Afrin Canton and the Tel Rifaat Area of Shahba Canton in Northern Syria. The PKK, which is based in Turkey, Iraq and parts of Syria, has been involved in an armed conflict with Turkey for the past few years. Its aim is to achieve the objective of creating an independent Kurdish state. It has been listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. The PKK is responsible for the deaths of more than 1,200 Turkish security personnel and civilians.

Turkey neutralised at least 2,434 terrorists belonging to PKK, IS

Air strikes on the last pocket of Islamic State jihadists in eastern Syria have killed at least 25 civilians, including seven children, a monitor said Monday.

The strikes were conducted on Sunday on and around the village of Al-Shaafah, north of the former IS bastion of Albu Kamal near the border with Iraq, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The strikes were conducted on Sunday on and around the village of Al-Shaafah, north of the former IS bastion of Albu Kamal near the border with Iraq

Air strikes on the last pocket of Islamic State jihadists in eastern Syria have killed at least 25 civilians, including seven children, a monitor said Monday. The strikes were conducted on Sunday on and around the village of Al-Shaafah, north of the former IS bastion of Albu Kamal near the border with Iraq, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Strikes on east Syria's last IS pocket kill 25 civilians

An Iraqi criminal court on Sunday sentenced to death 15 Turkish women after finding them guilty of belonging to the Islamic State group, a judicial official said. 
 
Another Turkish woman accused of membership of the jihadist group was given a life sentence, the official said, adding they had all acknowledged the charges against them. 
 
Iraq, which has detained at least 560 women, as well as 600 children, identified as jihadist or relatives of suspected IS fighters, is wasting no time in putting them on trial. 
 
In January, a court sentenced a German woman to death on charges of providing logistical support to IS, and a Turkish woman was earlier this month also handed the death penalty. 
 
Human Rights Watch denounced the rulings as &quot;unfair&quot;. 
 
Earlier this week, a Baghdad court sentenced a French woman, Melina Boughedir, to seven months in jail for entering Iraq illegally but ordered her release on time already served. 
 
Baghdad declared military victory over IS in December, after having expelled the jihadists from all urban centres they had held in northern and western Iraq since 2014. 
 
According to experts, an estimated 20,000 people are being held in jail in Iraq for alleged membership of IS. There is no official figure. 
 
Separately, authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan said in early February they had detained some 4,000 suspected IS members, including foreigners. 
 
Iraq&#39;s anti-terrorism law empowers courts to convict people who are believed to have helped IS even if they are not accused of carrying out attacks. 
 
It also allows for the death penalty to be issued against anyone -- including non-combatants -- found guilty of belonging to IS.

The women were guilty of belonging to the Islamic State group

An Iraqi criminal court on Sunday sentenced to death 15 Turkish women after finding them guilty of belonging to the Islamic State group, a judicial official said. Another Turkish woman accused of membership of the jihadist group was given a life sentence, the official said, adding they had all acknowledged the charges against them. Iraq, which has detained at least 560 women, as well as 600 children, identified as jihadist or relatives of suspected IS fighters, is wasting no time in putting them on trial. In January, a court sentenced a German woman to death on charges of providing logistical support to IS, and a Turkish woman was earlier this month also handed the death penalty. Human Rights Watch denounced the rulings as "unfair". Earlier this week, a Baghdad court sentenced a French woman, Melina Boughedir, to seven months in jail for entering Iraq illegally but ordered her release on time already served. Baghdad declared military victory over IS in December, after having expelled the jihadists from all urban centres they had held in northern and western Iraq since 2014. According to experts, an estimated 20,000 people are being held in jail in Iraq for alleged membership of IS. There is no official figure. Separately, authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan said in early February they had detained some 4,000 suspected IS members, including foreigners. Iraq's anti-terrorism law empowers courts to convict people who are believed to have helped IS even if they are not accused of carrying out attacks. It also allows for the death penalty to be issued against anyone -- including non-combatants -- found guilty of belonging to IS.

Iraq condemns 15 Turkish women to death for belonging to IS

Islamic State militants ambushed a convoy of government-backed militia fighters near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk late on Sunday, killing at least 12 of them, police and militia commanders said on Monday.

At least 10 other fighters from the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) are missing, a local militia commander said.

A security official said Iraqi security forces were pursuing the Islamic State militants who disguised themselves in police uniforms to carry out the attack.

&quot;Daesh ambushed the PMF convoy, making use of the bad and rainy weather. At least 10 fighters are still missing. We fear Daesh might execute them.&quot; said Abbas al-Jabouri, a local PMF commander, referring to Islamic State by an Arabic acronym.

Iraqi forces launched an operation this month to consolidate control of a mountain area near the oil city of Kirkuk to be used for the transit of Iraqi oil, highlighting concern about mountainous terrain where two armed groups are active.

Iraq declared victory in December over Islamic State militants who seized control of nearly a third of the country in 2014. However, the group continues to carry out attacks and bombings in Baghdad and different parts of the country.

At least 10 other fighters from the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) are missing

Islamic State militants ambushed a convoy of government-backed militia fighters near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk late on Sunday, killing at least 12 of them, police and militia commanders said on Monday. At least 10 other fighters from the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) are missing, a local militia commander said. A security official said Iraqi security forces were pursuing the Islamic State militants who disguised themselves in police uniforms to carry out the attack. "Daesh ambushed the PMF convoy, making use of the bad and rainy weather. At least 10 fighters are still missing. We fear Daesh might execute them." said Abbas al-Jabouri, a local PMF commander, referring to Islamic State by an Arabic acronym. Iraqi forces launched an operation this month to consolidate control of a mountain area near the oil city of Kirkuk to be used for the transit of Iraqi oil, highlighting concern about mountainous terrain where two armed groups are active. Iraq declared victory in December over Islamic State militants who seized control of nearly a third of the country in 2014. However, the group continues to carry out attacks and bombings in Baghdad and different parts of the country.

Islamic State kills 12 Iraqi militiamen near Kirkuk

Kuwait&#39;s Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah announced that the country may allocate close to $2 billion to Iraq to facilitate the country&#39;s reconstruction process.&nbsp;

According to reports Kuwait is likely to allocate $1 billion as loan and another $ 1 billion as an investment in Iraq.

The Emir identified the magnitude of destruction inflicted on Iraq perpetrated by terrorists stating that the same cannot be overlooked. He also stated that the international community must shoulder its responsibility and help Iraq.

The Emir made his announcement at the Kuwait International Conference for the Reconstruction of Iraq (KICRI) on Wednesday. He also congratulated the country for the successfully defeating the Islamic State (IS) in the country.

The three-day meeting began this Monday in Kuwait City and witnessed several economic powers as well as regional and international organisations in attendance.&nbsp;

The participants in the conference seek to contribute in the rebuilding process of Iraq -- the country was torn after many years of war and conflict.

According to reports Kuwait is likely to allocate $1 billion as loan and another $ 1 billion as an investment in Iraq

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah announced that the country may allocate close to $2 billion to Iraq to facilitate the country's reconstruction process. According to reports Kuwait is likely to allocate $1 billion as loan and another $ 1 billion as an investment in Iraq. The Emir identified the magnitude of destruction inflicted on Iraq perpetrated by terrorists stating that the same cannot be overlooked. He also stated that the international community must shoulder its responsibility and help Iraq. The Emir made his announcement at the Kuwait International Conference for the Reconstruction of Iraq (KICRI) on Wednesday. He also congratulated the country for the successfully defeating the Islamic State (IS) in the country. The three-day meeting began this Monday in Kuwait City and witnessed several economic powers as well as regional and international organisations in attendance. The participants in the conference seek to contribute in the rebuilding process of Iraq -- the country was torn after many years of war and conflict.

Kuwait pledges $2 billion aid to facilitate reconstruction in Iraq

Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jafari said on Wednesday 18,000 people had been killed and 36,000 wounded in the war with the Islamic State militant group since 2014.

18,000 people had been killed and 36,000 wounded in the war with the Islamic State.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jafari said on Wednesday 18,000 people had been killed and 36,000 wounded in the war with the Islamic State militant group since 2014.

Iraq says war with Islamic State killed 18,000

The Iraqi parliament on Monday set May 12 for elections the winner of which will face the daunting tasks of rebuilding Iraq after a three-year war with Islamic State and a battle against entrenched corruption that is eating away at its oil revenue.

Parliament voted in Baghdad to approve the date proposed by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi who is seeking re-election, buoyed by a surge in popularity for successfully leading the war on the militants, with support from a U.S.-led coalition.

Sunni and Kurdish lawmakers had asked for elections to be postponed, to allow the return of hundreds of thousands of displaced people to their homes, but Iraq&#39;s highest court on Sunday ruled that that would run against the constitution.

The May election will decide the prime minister who will lead the country for the next four years, a position reserved to the Shi&#39;ite Arab majority.

The personality of the prime minister will be important for Iraq to attract reconstruction funds at a conference planned for this purpose in Kuwait in February.

Baghdad says at least $100 billion will be needed to rebuild houses, businesses and infrastructure destroyed in the war.

But deep-rooted corruption remains an obstacle to attracting investment: the oil-rich nation is the 10th most corrupt worldwide, according to Transparency International.

&quot;Having Abadi as prime minister would be reassuring for the donors, given his strong views about the need to fight corruption, but he will be required to take stronger action,&quot; said Hisham al-Hashimi, a Baghdad-based analyst.

Two Iran allies

Among other contenders for the top executive job are former prime minister Nuri al-Maliki and Hadi al-Amiri, a former transportation minister who bolstered his clout during the war on Islamic State - both of whom are among Iran&#39;s closest allies in Iraq.

Amiri, the leader of the Badr Organisation, initially formed an electoral alliance with Abadi, but later announced they will be running separately and possibly form an alliance after the elections for the purpose of forming a government.

&quot;Regardless of the identity of the winner, Iran will have leverage,&quot; said Hassan Shaaban, a political commentator and rights activist in Baghdad. &quot;Given the escalation with Washington, it is very important for Iran that Iraq&#39;s leadership understands and preserves its interests.&quot;

U.S. President Donald Trump this month threatened to exit an agreement that curtails Iran&#39;s nuclear program in return for lifting international sanctions, citing violations of the agreement by Tehran.

His administration also considers as a threat Tehran&#39;s support for groups like Lebanon&#39;s Hezbollah, Yemen&#39;s Houthi rebels and some Iraqi paramilitary groups.

Amiri&#39;s Badr Organisation was the largest group making up the Popular Mobilisation Forces, a coalition of paramilitary mainly backed by Iran with a considerable popular base among the Shi&#39;ite Muslim majority but accused by Sunni and Kurdish politicians of abuses including population displacement.

Abadi took over the premiership in 2014 from Maliki, who was widely blamed by Iraqi politicians for the army&#39;s collapse as Islamic State seized a third of Iraq.

Maliki, who holds the ceremonial position of vice-president, remains one of the most influential Shi&#39;ite politicians in his capacity of leader of the Dawa party.

Even though Abadi is a Dawa member, Maliki declined to endorse him, and the competition between them two means that they would need to seek the support of other Shi&#39;ite parties, as well as Sunni and Kurdish groups, to form governing coalitions.

Influential Shi&#39;ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has said he is backing an alliance called &quot;On the Move&quot; (Sa&#39;iroun) focused on fighting graft, formed between some of his supporters, the Iraqi Communist Party and other small secular groups.

Sadr, who has a large following among Iraq&#39;s urban poor, had criticized Abadi for his possible alliance with Amiri, saying it contradicted the prime minister&#39;s stated ambitions to reform the state. No candidate for the premiership has yet emerged from his &quot;On the Move&quot; alliance.

&quot;Whoever emerges as top contender for the premiership, he won&#39;t have enough seats to rule and will have to form understandings with others, with Shi&#39;ite, Sunni and Kurdish groups to have a solid governing base,&quot; said analyst al-Hashimi.

The May election will decide the prime minister who will lead the country for the next four years, a position reserved to the Shi'ite Arab majority.

The Iraqi parliament on Monday set May 12 for elections the winner of which will face the daunting tasks of rebuilding Iraq after a three-year war with Islamic State and a battle against entrenched corruption that is eating away at its oil revenue. Parliament voted in Baghdad to approve the date proposed by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi who is seeking re-election, buoyed by a surge in popularity for successfully leading the war on the militants, with support from a U.S.-led coalition. Sunni and Kurdish lawmakers had asked for elections to be postponed, to allow the return of hundreds of thousands of displaced people to their homes, but Iraq's highest court on Sunday ruled that that would run against the constitution. The May election will decide the prime minister who will lead the country for the next four years, a position reserved to the Shi'ite Arab majority. The personality of the prime minister will be important for Iraq to attract reconstruction funds at a conference planned for this purpose in Kuwait in February. Baghdad says at least $100 billion will be needed to rebuild houses, businesses and infrastructure destroyed in the war. But deep-rooted corruption remains an obstacle to attracting investment: the oil-rich nation is the 10th most corrupt worldwide, according to Transparency International. "Having Abadi as prime minister would be reassuring for the donors, given his strong views about the need to fight corruption, but he will be required to take stronger action," said Hisham al-Hashimi, a Baghdad-based analyst. Two Iran allies Among other contenders for the top executive job are former prime minister Nuri al-Maliki and Hadi al-Amiri, a former transportation minister who bolstered his clout during the war on Islamic State - both of whom are among Iran's closest allies in Iraq. Amiri, the leader of the Badr Organisation, initially formed an electoral alliance with Abadi, but later announced they will be running separately and possibly form an alliance after the elections for the purpose of forming a government. "Regardless of the identity of the winner, Iran will have leverage," said Hassan Shaaban, a political commentator and rights activist in Baghdad. "Given the escalation with Washington, it is very important for Iran that Iraq's leadership understands and preserves its interests." U.S. President Donald Trump this month threatened to exit an agreement that curtails Iran's nuclear program in return for lifting international sanctions, citing violations of the agreement by Tehran. His administration also considers as a threat Tehran's support for groups like Lebanon's Hezbollah, Yemen's Houthi rebels and some Iraqi paramilitary groups. Amiri's Badr Organisation was the largest group making up the Popular Mobilisation Forces, a coalition of paramilitary mainly backed by Iran with a considerable popular base among the Shi'ite Muslim majority but accused by Sunni and Kurdish politicians of abuses including population displacement. Abadi took over the premiership in 2014 from Maliki, who was widely blamed by Iraqi politicians for the army's collapse as Islamic State seized a third of Iraq. Maliki, who holds the ceremonial position of vice-president, remains one of the most influential Shi'ite politicians in his capacity of leader of the Dawa party. Even though Abadi is a Dawa member, Maliki declined to endorse him, and the competition between them two means that they would need to seek the support of other Shi'ite parties, as well as Sunni and Kurdish groups, to form governing coalitions. Influential Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has said he is backing an alliance called "On the Move" (Sa'iroun) focused on fighting graft, formed between some of his supporters, the Iraqi Communist Party and other small secular groups. Sadr, who has a large following among Iraq's urban poor, had criticized Abadi for his possible alliance with Amiri, saying it contradicted the prime minister's stated ambitions to reform the state. No candidate for the premiership has yet emerged from his "On the Move" alliance. "Whoever emerges as top contender for the premiership, he won't have enough seats to rule and will have to form understandings with others, with Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish groups to have a solid governing base," said analyst al-Hashimi.

Iraq sets May 12 date for elections to be contested by PM Abadi, Iran allies

Every Friday in Iraq, a gripping show on state television beams the alleged confessions of death-row jihadists into homes around the country.

At peak viewing time, it broadcasts gruesome images of their purported crimes before interviewing the convicts, who appear clad in orange or yellow jumpsuits.

Baghdad declared victory against the ISIS group in December, after years of fighting to regain vast stretches of territory the jihadists seized in 2014.

Iraq has detained thousands of suspected members of IS, a group infamous for deadly attacks, mass killings and the execution of detainees in orange jumpsuits.

Once a week, a show titled &quot;In the grip of the law&quot; escorts convicted jihadists back to the scene of their crime under heavy security.

By spotlighting ISIS atrocities, the show aims to stamp out any remaining support for the jihadist group&#39;s ideology, its presenter says.

&quot;I get tipped off by the interior ministry, the defence ministry or national security, who captured them,&quot; Ahmad Hassan, 36, says.

&quot;They choose the case to highlight and I ask the justice ministry for permission to interview the convict,&quot; says Hassan, whose show is aired by state channel Al-Iraqiya.

The programme is up to its 150th episode, he says, and not about to end any time soon.

&quot;Even if IS has lost militarily, its ideology still exists,&quot; he says.

&quot;Its supporters view others as non-believers and will continue to murder as long as its ideology lives on.&quot;

&#39;Detective agency&#39;

Dressed in a beige suit and brown tie, on a set meant to evoke a detective agency, Hassan starts his show each week with shocking images.

One episode opens with a photo of dozens of Sunni tribesmen lying in a pool of their own blood, after their 2014 execution by ISIS in the town of Heet, northwest of Baghdad.

It then introduces Mithaq Hamid Hekmet, 41, one of those condemned over the massacre, who recounts the killings in chilling detail -- even citing the names of others who took part.

On the show&#39;s set, a mahogony desk, stacks of papers, maps of Baghdad and mugshots of the day&#39;s convict seek to create an intriguing atmosphere to draw in viewers.

In another episode, former IS finance official Mohammad Hamid Omar, nom de guerre Abu Hajjaj, describes his speciality: extorting funds from pharmacies, schools, real estate agencies, petrol stations and doctors.

Hassan says all of his interviewees have been found guilty and sentenced -- most to death, but some to lengthy prison terms.

They are mostly Iraqis, but also sometimes nationals from other Arab countries.

Some have since been executed, Hassan says, but &quot;that&#39;s the justice ministry&#39;s business, not mine&quot;.

Iraq executed more than 100 people last year, mostly after &quot;terrorism&quot; convictions, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has said.

The country&#39;s anti-terrorism law orders the death penalty for any person who commits, plans, funds or assists in acts of &quot;terrorism&quot;.

&nbsp;&#39;Why kill my sons?&#39;

Hassan says all his convict interviewees take part &quot;voluntarily&quot;, and know participating will in no way help to alleviate their sentence.

&quot;They do it because they have regrets,&quot; he says.

&quot;They want to show the horrendous acts they have committed and reveal the thinking of the group they belonged to, to persuade others not to make the same mistake.&quot;

The show&#39;s most poignant moments are meetings set up between the convicts and the mothers of their purported victims.

In one such scene, the mother of two policemen killed by ISIS vents her anger.

&quot;Why did you kill my sons Ahmad and Hamid?&quot; she asks three sentenced jihadists, who hang their heads in response.

&quot;They were your friends. Did they ever wrong you? Why did you destroy my family?&quot; asks the woman, dressed from head-to-toe in black.

Another woman, whose son ISIS shot in the head, asks four prisoners: &quot;How can you eat with those hands that killed my son?&quot;

Human rights groups have criticised the programme for showing death-row inmates on television before their execution.

Hassan says the interviews comply with human rights laws.

&quot;We don&#39;t pressure anyone,&quot; he says.

&quot;But we&#39;re in a situation of war and it&#39;s best to focus on the rights of victims, rather than those of the terrorists&quot;.

Interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan is a fan of the programme.

&quot;Thanks to this show, people can see security forces provide true information. It creates bonds with the population.&quot;

At peak viewing time, it broadcasts gruesome images of their purported crimes before interviewing the convicts, who appear clad in orange or yellow jumpsuits

Every Friday in Iraq, a gripping show on state television beams the alleged confessions of death-row jihadists into homes around the country. At peak viewing time, it broadcasts gruesome images of their purported crimes before interviewing the convicts, who appear clad in orange or yellow jumpsuits. Baghdad declared victory against the ISIS group in December, after years of fighting to regain vast stretches of territory the jihadists seized in 2014. Iraq has detained thousands of suspected members of IS, a group infamous for deadly attacks, mass killings and the execution of detainees in orange jumpsuits. Once a week, a show titled "In the grip of the law" escorts convicted jihadists back to the scene of their crime under heavy security. By spotlighting ISIS atrocities, the show aims to stamp out any remaining support for the jihadist group's ideology, its presenter says. "I get tipped off by the interior ministry, the defence ministry or national security, who captured them," Ahmad Hassan, 36, says. "They choose the case to highlight and I ask the justice ministry for permission to interview the convict," says Hassan, whose show is aired by state channel Al-Iraqiya. The programme is up to its 150th episode, he says, and not about to end any time soon. "Even if IS has lost militarily, its ideology still exists," he says. "Its supporters view others as non-believers and will continue to murder as long as its ideology lives on." 'Detective agency' Dressed in a beige suit and brown tie, on a set meant to evoke a detective agency, Hassan starts his show each week with shocking images. One episode opens with a photo of dozens of Sunni tribesmen lying in a pool of their own blood, after their 2014 execution by ISIS in the town of Heet, northwest of Baghdad. It then introduces Mithaq Hamid Hekmet, 41, one of those condemned over the massacre, who recounts the killings in chilling detail -- even citing the names of others who took part. On the show's set, a mahogony desk, stacks of papers, maps of Baghdad and mugshots of the day's convict seek to create an intriguing atmosphere to draw in viewers. In another episode, former IS finance official Mohammad Hamid Omar, nom de guerre Abu Hajjaj, describes his speciality: extorting funds from pharmacies, schools, real estate agencies, petrol stations and doctors. Hassan says all of his interviewees have been found guilty and sentenced -- most to death, but some to lengthy prison terms. They are mostly Iraqis, but also sometimes nationals from other Arab countries. Some have since been executed, Hassan says, but "that's the justice ministry's business, not mine". Iraq executed more than 100 people last year, mostly after "terrorism" convictions, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has said. The country's anti-terrorism law orders the death penalty for any person who commits, plans, funds or assists in acts of "terrorism". 'Why kill my sons?' Hassan says all his convict interviewees take part "voluntarily", and know participating will in no way help to alleviate their sentence. "They do it because they have regrets," he says. "They want to show the horrendous acts they have committed and reveal the thinking of the group they belonged to, to persuade others not to make the same mistake." The show's most poignant moments are meetings set up between the convicts and the mothers of their purported victims. In one such scene, the mother of two policemen killed by ISIS vents her anger. "Why did you kill my sons Ahmad and Hamid?" she asks three sentenced jihadists, who hang their heads in response. "They were your friends. Did they ever wrong you? Why did you destroy my family?" asks the woman, dressed from head-to-toe in black. Another woman, whose son ISIS shot in the head, asks four prisoners: "How can you eat with those hands that killed my son?" Human rights groups have criticised the programme for showing death-row inmates on television before their execution. Hassan says the interviews comply with human rights laws. "We don't pressure anyone," he says. "But we're in a situation of war and it's best to focus on the rights of victims, rather than those of the terrorists". Interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan is a fan of the programme. "Thanks to this show, people can see security forces provide true information. It creates bonds with the population."

In Iraq, death-row jihadists 'confess' on prime-time TV

The Iraq police and health officials have reported that the death toll in the twin bombings in Baghdad has risen to 38 and left at least 105 injured.&nbsp;

The bombings were carried out by two terrorists who came armed with explosive belts and attacked the <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/baghdad-suicide-attack-26-killed-several-injured-29547" target="_blank">Tayran Square </a>where day labourers gather early morning for jobs, media reports said.&nbsp;

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but it bore all the hallmarks of the Islamic State group, which has claimed many such attacks in the past.

Ambulances rushed to the cite and the area was sealed by the security forces.&nbsp;

Many locals were stunned by the attack as the number of attacks had significantly decreased since security forces retook nearly all territory once held by ISIS militants.

According to media reports, a local was quoted saying that she was expecting this due to the upcoming election - which is proposed on May 12.&nbsp;

The bombings were carried out by two terrorists who came armed with explosive belts and attacked the Tayran Square where day labourers gather early morning for jobs, media reports said.

The Iraq police and health officials have reported that the death toll in the twin bombings in Baghdad has risen to 38 and left at least 105 injured. The bombings were carried out by two terrorists who came armed with explosive belts and attacked the Tayran Square where day labourers gather early morning for jobs, media reports said. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but it bore all the hallmarks of the Islamic State group, which has claimed many such attacks in the past. Ambulances rushed to the cite and the area was sealed by the security forces. Many locals were stunned by the attack as the number of attacks had significantly decreased since security forces retook nearly all territory once held by ISIS militants. According to media reports, a local was quoted saying that she was expecting this due to the upcoming election - which is proposed on May 12.

Death toll rises to 38 in Iraq twin bombing

Iraqi security forces are forcibly returning civilians from refugee camps to unsafe areas in the predominantly Sunni Anbar province, exposing them to death from booby-traps or acts of vigilantism, refugees and aid workers say.

Managing more than two million Iraqis displaced by the war against Islamic State is one of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi&#39;s most daunting tasks. But critics say he is more interested in winning elections in May than alleviating the suffering of displaced Iraqis and returning them safely home.

Authorities are sending back people against their will, refugees and aid workers say, to ensure that the election takes place on time.

People must be in their area of origin to vote and if they do not get home, this could delay the election.

Abadi is riding a wave of popularity after defeating Islamic State in Iraq and is anxious the election should not be held up.

His strategy is not without its hazards. Abadi risks alienating Sunni voters if displaced Sunnis are seen to be suffering from being sent home to dangerous areas.

Abadi is seeking a second term in which he plans to fight corruption and maintain national unity in the face of Kurdish separatism. He will need all the votes he can muster to face down a challenge from candidates linked to Iranian-backed Shi&#39;ite militias.&nbsp;

Military trucks&nbsp;

Interviews with aid workers and dozens of displaced people at camps in the town of Amriyat al-Falluja, located in the Sunni heartland of Anbar province, 40 km (25 miles) from Baghdad, as well as with several families who were returned to other areas in the province, reveal that many were forced to go home and several suffered death or injury.

Aid workers said military trucks arrive at camps unannounced and commanders read out lists of people, who have one hour to pack their belongings and go.

The aid workers, who all spoke on condition of anonymity, estimated that between 2,400 and 5,000 people were forcibly returned between November 21 and January 2.

&quot;These returns are not safe,&quot; said one aid worker. &quot;Even those who don`t openly resist really have no other choice. They cannot really say no to a bunch of people with guns.&quot;

They gave him a tent&nbsp;

An Iraqi military spokesman said the claim that the military forced displaced civilians to return against their will was an exaggeration.

&quot;Our primary concern is the safety of our citizens, our job is to protect people,&quot; Iraqi Joint Operations Command Spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Rasool told Reuters.

However, &quot;citizens have to go home&quot; now that Islamic State had been defeated, he said.

Some aid workers said local military commanders told them the orders came from Abadi&#39;s office. The prime minister&#39;s spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.

On November 25, security forces arrived at a camp in Amriyat al-Falluja and told Saleh Ahmed, 37, and his family to return to their hometown of Betaya, his father, Mahdi Ahmed, said.

They refused because contacts at home told them the area was filled with booby-traps left by retreating Islamic State fighters and their houses had been destroyed.

A local commander assured them the area was safe, saying it was &quot;better to go live in a tent in your hometown than live in a tent in the camp&quot;.

Saleh reluctantly took his wife and some of his children and got on the truck. Mahdi Ahmed, 72, remained at the camp with his sick wife, another son, and some of Saleh`s children as their names were not on the list.

&quot;They gave him a tent. He went back to our destroyed house and tried to pitch it in our yard,&quot; Mahdi Ahmed told Reuters at the camp in Amriyat al-Falluja.

An explosive went off. Saleh&#39;s wife was killed instantly and his daughter sustained full body burns. Saleh lost one eye and was seriously injured in the other, according to one of his sons, who witnessed the incident.

Cannot afford to return 

The Ahmeds&#39;&nbsp;case is not unique. Abdallah, 17, told Reuters his family was forced to return to the town of Jweibeh on November 26.

A week later masked men arrived at the family home at 2 am&nbsp;demanding to speak to the father. When he refused to open the door, they burst in and started shooting. Abdallah&#39;s father suffered leg injuries and his mother lost a finger.

The family do not know what the men wanted.

&quot;It&#39;s not that we don&#39;t want to return but it has to be safe,&quot; said Abdallah, who is now the family breadwinner, working at a shop in the city of Falluja.

For many it is not economically viable to leave the camps, where they can set up barber shops or fruit stands at makeshift markets, making about $50 a month.&nbsp;

That sum would not be possible back home where jobs, basic services, and schools are nonexistent.

&quot;I can&#39;t afford to return,&quot; said camp resident Alaa Hussein.

One man whose father suffers from kidney failure said leaving means losing access to the camp&#39;s dialysis machine. His village, 450 km (280 miles) from the camp, does not have one.

&quot;I will return once there are adequate health services there, but why should I go before then?&quot; said Jassem Ali, 37.

Five camp residents told Reuters separately they were forced to leave but had to turn back because checkpoints manned by Iranian-backed Shi&#39;ite militias were demanding bribes of up to $400 to let people through, a sum none could afford.

They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. Reuters was unable to independently verify the claim.

Life ruined&nbsp;

A US&nbsp;diplomat in Baghdad said she had heard reports of forced returns, which the embassy had brought to the attention of the Iraqi government.

She said the government had stressed its commitment to safe and voluntary returns but also said that &quot;there is a real desire to get people home as quickly as possible&quot;.

The United Nations says more than half of displaced Iraqis have already returned. More than 3.2 million people were back home at the end of December, with 2.6 million still displaced, according to the International Organization for Migration.

For Mahdi Ahmed, the government has achieved the reverse of what it intended.&nbsp;

&quot;They are doing this because of the election, but if I go back and see my house destroyed, my money gone, and my life ruined, why would I vote for them?&quot; he asked.&nbsp;

Authorities are sending back people against their will to ensure that the election takes place on time

Iraqi security forces are forcibly returning civilians from refugee camps to unsafe areas in the predominantly Sunni Anbar province, exposing them to death from booby-traps or acts of vigilantism, refugees and aid workers say. Managing more than two million Iraqis displaced by the war against Islamic State is one of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's most daunting tasks. But critics say he is more interested in winning elections in May than alleviating the suffering of displaced Iraqis and returning them safely home. Authorities are sending back people against their will, refugees and aid workers say, to ensure that the election takes place on time. People must be in their area of origin to vote and if they do not get home, this could delay the election. Abadi is riding a wave of popularity after defeating Islamic State in Iraq and is anxious the election should not be held up. His strategy is not without its hazards. Abadi risks alienating Sunni voters if displaced Sunnis are seen to be suffering from being sent home to dangerous areas. Abadi is seeking a second term in which he plans to fight corruption and maintain national unity in the face of Kurdish separatism. He will need all the votes he can muster to face down a challenge from candidates linked to Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias. Military trucks Interviews with aid workers and dozens of displaced people at camps in the town of Amriyat al-Falluja, located in the Sunni heartland of Anbar province, 40 km (25 miles) from Baghdad, as well as with several families who were returned to other areas in the province, reveal that many were forced to go home and several suffered death or injury. Aid workers said military trucks arrive at camps unannounced and commanders read out lists of people, who have one hour to pack their belongings and go. The aid workers, who all spoke on condition of anonymity, estimated that between 2,400 and 5,000 people were forcibly returned between November 21 and January 2. "These returns are not safe," said one aid worker. "Even those who don`t openly resist really have no other choice. They cannot really say no to a bunch of people with guns." They gave him a tent An Iraqi military spokesman said the claim that the military forced displaced civilians to return against their will was an exaggeration. "Our primary concern is the safety of our citizens, our job is to protect people," Iraqi Joint Operations Command Spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Rasool told Reuters. However, "citizens have to go home" now that Islamic State had been defeated, he said. Some aid workers said local military commanders told them the orders came from Abadi's office. The prime minister's spokesman did not respond to requests for comment. On November 25, security forces arrived at a camp in Amriyat al-Falluja and told Saleh Ahmed, 37, and his family to return to their hometown of Betaya, his father, Mahdi Ahmed, said. They refused because contacts at home told them the area was filled with booby-traps left by retreating Islamic State fighters and their houses had been destroyed. A local commander assured them the area was safe, saying it was "better to go live in a tent in your hometown than live in a tent in the camp". Saleh reluctantly took his wife and some of his children and got on the truck. Mahdi Ahmed, 72, remained at the camp with his sick wife, another son, and some of Saleh`s children as their names were not on the list. "They gave him a tent. He went back to our destroyed house and tried to pitch it in our yard," Mahdi Ahmed told Reuters at the camp in Amriyat al-Falluja. An explosive went off. Saleh's wife was killed instantly and his daughter sustained full body burns. Saleh lost one eye and was seriously injured in the other, according to one of his sons, who witnessed the incident. Cannot afford to return The Ahmeds' case is not unique. Abdallah, 17, told Reuters his family was forced to return to the town of Jweibeh on November 26. A week later masked men arrived at the family home at 2 am demanding to speak to the father. When he refused to open the door, they burst in and started shooting. Abdallah's father suffered leg injuries and his mother lost a finger. The family do not know what the men wanted. "It's not that we don't want to return but it has to be safe," said Abdallah, who is now the family breadwinner, working at a shop in the city of Falluja. For many it is not economically viable to leave the camps, where they can set up barber shops or fruit stands at makeshift markets, making about $50 a month. That sum would not be possible back home where jobs, basic services, and schools are nonexistent. "I can't afford to return," said camp resident Alaa Hussein. One man whose father suffers from kidney failure said leaving means losing access to the camp's dialysis machine. His village, 450 km (280 miles) from the camp, does not have one. "I will return once there are adequate health services there, but why should I go before then?" said Jassem Ali, 37. Five camp residents told Reuters separately they were forced to leave but had to turn back because checkpoints manned by Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias were demanding bribes of up to $400 to let people through, a sum none could afford. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. Reuters was unable to independently verify the claim. Life ruined A US diplomat in Baghdad said she had heard reports of forced returns, which the embassy had brought to the attention of the Iraqi government. She said the government had stressed its commitment to safe and voluntary returns but also said that "there is a real desire to get people home as quickly as possible". The United Nations says more than half of displaced Iraqis have already returned. More than 3.2 million people were back home at the end of December, with 2.6 million still displaced, according to the International Organization for Migration. For Mahdi Ahmed, the government has achieved the reverse of what it intended. "They are doing this because of the election, but if I go back and see my house destroyed, my money gone, and my life ruined, why would I vote for them?" he asked.

Iraq returning displaced civilians from camps to unsafe areas

Australian air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria are soon to come to an end, Defence Minister Marise Payne said on Friday.

However, Australian operations in the region would continue.&nbsp;

The Australian government has decided to pull back its six Super Hornet planes after three years.

The fighter jet variants were deployed as part of the US-led coalition in the Middle East.

The decision followed the Iraqi declaration of victory over Islamic State.

Close to 80 personnel are part of the Special Operations Task Group in Iraq which includes the Australian special forces; these would continue to be deployed in the region.&nbsp;

&quot;Following discussions with Iraq and with members of the international coalition, the Australian government has determined that we will bring home our six Super Hornet strike aircraft from the Middle East,&quot; Payne told reporters.

Australia&#39;s presence in the Middle East dates back to 2014 as part of US-led efforts against Islamic State.

(With inputs from Reuters)

 
&nbsp;

Australia's presence in the Middle East dates back to 2014 as part of US-led efforts against Islamic State

Australian air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria are soon to come to an end, Defence Minister Marise Payne said on Friday. However, Australian operations in the region would continue. The Australian government has decided to pull back its six Super Hornet planes after three years. The fighter jet variants were deployed as part of the US-led coalition in the Middle East. The decision followed the Iraqi declaration of victory over Islamic State. Close to 80 personnel are part of the Special Operations Task Group in Iraq which includes the Australian special forces; these would continue to be deployed in the region. "Following discussions with Iraq and with members of the international coalition, the Australian government has determined that we will bring home our six Super Hornet strike aircraft from the Middle East," Payne told reporters. Australia's presence in the Middle East dates back to 2014 as part of US-led efforts against Islamic State. (With inputs from Reuters)

Australia to end air strikes in Iraq and Syria, pulls back Super Hornets

The United Nations on Saturday said that they have planned to stop the mass executions of prisoners in the country following the<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/iraq-hangs-38-members-of-is-qaeda-for-terrorism-26762"> execution of 38 members from the Islamic State group</a> or Al-Qaeda for terrorism offences.&nbsp;

The UN also showed their doubts over Iraq&#39;s criminal justice system, reports said.&nbsp;

UN spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell claimed that considering the &#39;flaws&#39; in Iraq&#39;s justice system, it is highly doubtful if a fair and stringent process was carried out in the execution. &nbsp;

She further added that this has lead to a possibility of &#39;irreversible miscarriages of justice and violations of the right to life&#39;.&nbsp;

This has by far been the largest number of executions in Iraq on a single day since September 25 when 42 people were put to death in the same prison.

On December 9, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced &quot;the end of the war&quot; in the country against the Islamic State (IS) group and further added that their force was in full control of &nbsp;Iraqi-Syrian border.

IS swept across a third of Iraq in 2014 and seized several major cities including Mosul, the country&#39;s second biggest, before a fightback launched in 2015. 
&nbsp;

The UN also showed their doubts over Iraq's criminal justice system

The United Nations on Saturday said that they have planned to stop the mass executions of prisoners in the country following the execution of 38 members from the Islamic State group or Al-Qaeda for terrorism offences. The UN also showed their doubts over Iraq's criminal justice system, reports said. UN spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell claimed that considering the 'flaws' in Iraq's justice system, it is highly doubtful if a fair and stringent process was carried out in the execution. She further added that this has lead to a possibility of 'irreversible miscarriages of justice and violations of the right to life'. This has by far been the largest number of executions in Iraq on a single day since September 25 when 42 people were put to death in the same prison. On December 9, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced "the end of the war" in the country against the Islamic State (IS) group and further added that their force was in full control of Iraqi-Syrian border. IS swept across a third of Iraq in 2014 and seized several major cities including Mosul, the country's second biggest, before a fightback launched in 2015.

UN condemns execution of prisoners in Iraq, calls for immediate halt

Iraq hanged 38 jihadists belonging to the Islamic State group or Al-Qaeda for terrorism offences on Thursday in the southern city of Nasiriyah, provincial authorities said.

It was the largest number of executions in Iraq on a single day since September 25 when 42 people were put to death in the same prison.

&quot;The prison administration executed on Thursday in the presence of Justice Minister Haidar al-Zameli, in Nasiriyah prison, 38 death row prisoners belonging to Al-Qaeda or Daesh (IS) accused of terrorist activities,&quot; said Dakhel Kazem, a senior official in the provincial council.

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They were all Iraqis but one also had Swedish citizenship, a prison source said.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Saturday declared victory against IS after a three-year campaign by government forces backed by a US-led coalition to retake territory seized by the jihadists.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International has voiced repeated concerns about the use of the death penalty in Iraq, which it ranks as one of the world&#39;s top executioners behind China, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

In a report released on December 5, Human Rights Watch criticised both Iraq&#39;s central government and the autonomous Kurdish authorities over mass trials of suspected IS jihadists.

HRW said the authorities &quot;appear to be prosecuting all ISIS (IS) suspects in their custody under counterterrorism laws, primarily for ISIS membership, and not focusing on specific actions or crimes that may have been committed&quot;.

The New York-based group identified 7,374 cases of suspects charged under this law since 2014, and put at 20,000 the total number of people imprisoned for suspected IS membership.

It expressed concerns that the broad prosecution of those affiliated with IS &quot;in any way, no matter how minimal, could impede future community reconciliation and reintegration&quot;.

&quot;Iraqi justice is failing to distinguish between the culpability of doctors who protected lives under ISIS rule and those responsible for crimes against humanity,&quot; said Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW&#39;s Middle East director.

HRW said it regretted what it called the inconsistent application of a 2016 law granting amnesty to suspects who can show they joined IS or any extremist group against their will and have not committed a crime.

&quot;Execution of fighters who surrender or are hors de combat is a war crime,&quot; HRW added.

IS swept across a third of Iraq in 2014 and seized several major cities including Mosul, the country&#39;s second biggest, before a fightback launched in 2015.

 
&nbsp;

It was the largest number of executions in Iraq on a single day since September 25 when 42 people were put to death in the same prison

Iraq hanged 38 jihadists belonging to the Islamic State group or Al-Qaeda for terrorism offences on Thursday in the southern city of Nasiriyah, provincial authorities said. It was the largest number of executions in Iraq on a single day since September 25 when 42 people were put to death in the same prison. "The prison administration executed on Thursday in the presence of Justice Minister Haidar al-Zameli, in Nasiriyah prison, 38 death row prisoners belonging to Al-Qaeda or Daesh (IS) accused of terrorist activities," said Dakhel Kazem, a senior official in the provincial council. Rights watchdog Amnesty International has voiced repeated concerns about the use of the death penalty in Iraq, which it ranks as one of the world's top executioners behind China, Iran and Saudi Arabia × They were all Iraqis but one also had Swedish citizenship, a prison source said. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Saturday declared victory against IS after a three-year campaign by government forces backed by a US-led coalition to retake territory seized by the jihadists. Rights watchdog Amnesty International has voiced repeated concerns about the use of the death penalty in Iraq, which it ranks as one of the world's top executioners behind China, Iran and Saudi Arabia. In a report released on December 5, Human Rights Watch criticised both Iraq's central government and the autonomous Kurdish authorities over mass trials of suspected IS jihadists. HRW said the authorities "appear to be prosecuting all ISIS (IS) suspects in their custody under counterterrorism laws, primarily for ISIS membership, and not focusing on specific actions or crimes that may have been committed". The New York-based group identified 7,374 cases of suspects charged under this law since 2014, and put at 20,000 the total number of people imprisoned for suspected IS membership. It expressed concerns that the broad prosecution of those affiliated with IS "in any way, no matter how minimal, could impede future community reconciliation and reintegration". "Iraqi justice is failing to distinguish between the culpability of doctors who protected lives under ISIS rule and those responsible for crimes against humanity," said Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW's Middle East director. HRW said it regretted what it called the inconsistent application of a 2016 law granting amnesty to suspects who can show they joined IS or any extremist group against their will and have not committed a crime. "Execution of fighters who surrender or are hors de combat is a war crime," HRW added. IS swept across a third of Iraq in 2014 and seized several major cities including Mosul, the country's second biggest, before a fightback launched in 2015.

Iraq hangs 38 members of IS, Qaeda in single day

Iraqi paramilitary forces have uncovered two more&nbsp;mass&nbsp;graves containing the bodies of 140 civilians, including women and children, in an area home to the Yazidi religious minority, they said Saturday.

In 2014, IS killed thousands of Yazidis in Sinjar and kidnapped thousands of women and girls from the community to abuse them as sex slaves.

The Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary alliance said it had found &quot;a&nbsp;mass&nbsp;grave&nbsp;with the bodies of 20 women and about 40 children in the village of Kabusi, south of Sinjar.&quot;&nbsp;

Elsewhere, &quot;in the Jazira residential complex, also south of Sinjar, 80 other bodies, mostly Yazidis, were discovered,&quot; it said.

Kurdish fighters backed by the US-led coalition against IS captured Sinjar from the jihadists in November 2015 before Iraqi security forces took control of the region in October.

As government troops have advanced across Iraq they have uncovered dozens of&nbsp;mass&nbsp;graves holding hundreds of bodies in areas that fell under the jihadists&#39; brutal rule.

Iraqi officials said on 22 November they had found a&nbsp;mass&nbsp;grave&nbsp;in Sinjar containing the bodies of dozens of members of the minority killed by the Islamic State group.

Sinjar mayor Mahma Khalil said that since 2015, around 40&nbsp;mass&nbsp;graves have been discovered in the region and that &quot;all the victims were Yazidis&quot;.

The Yazidis are Kurdish-speaking but follow their own non-Muslim faith that earned them the hatred of the Sunni Muslim extremists of IS.

Yazidis believe in one God who created the world and entrusted it to seven Holy Beings, the most important of which is Melek Taus, or the Peacock Angel.

The Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary alliance said it had found "a mass grave with the bodies of 20 women and about 40 children in the village of Kabusi, south of Sinjar"

Iraqi paramilitary forces have uncovered two more mass graves containing the bodies of 140 civilians, including women and children, in an area home to the Yazidi religious minority, they said Saturday. In 2014, IS killed thousands of Yazidis in Sinjar and kidnapped thousands of women and girls from the community to abuse them as sex slaves. The Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary alliance said it had found "a mass grave with the bodies of 20 women and about 40 children in the village of Kabusi, south of Sinjar." Elsewhere, "in the Jazira residential complex, also south of Sinjar, 80 other bodies, mostly Yazidis, were discovered," it said. Kurdish fighters backed by the US-led coalition against IS captured Sinjar from the jihadists in November 2015 before Iraqi security forces took control of the region in October. As government troops have advanced across Iraq they have uncovered dozens of mass graves holding hundreds of bodies in areas that fell under the jihadists' brutal rule. Iraqi officials said on 22 November they had found a mass grave in Sinjar containing the bodies of dozens of members of the minority killed by the Islamic State group. Sinjar mayor Mahma Khalil said that since 2015, around 40 mass graves have been discovered in the region and that "all the victims were Yazidis". The Yazidis are Kurdish-speaking but follow their own non-Muslim faith that earned them the hatred of the Sunni Muslim extremists of IS. Yazidis believe in one God who created the world and entrusted it to seven Holy Beings, the most important of which is Melek Taus, or the Peacock Angel.

Two mass graves found in Yazidi district of Iraq

Bulgaria said Wednesday that an aircraft taking its prime minister and former king to Saudi Arabia was denied permission by Iran to enter its airspace, forcing them to fly via Iraq.

&quot;The refusal is inexplicable,&quot; Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva was quoted by Bulgarian media as saying from Riyadh a day after the incident.

She said Iran&#39;s ambassador in Sofia has been summoned for an explanation. Iran had initially given the flight permission before it took off, she said.

The plane was carrying former king Simeon Saxe Coburg, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Zaharieva and four other ministers.

It was the first visit by a Bulgarian prime minister to Saudi Arabia since the former communist country, now a member of the European Union, and the kingdom established relations 20 years ago.

Borisov was due to be received on Wednesday by King Salman and by the powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, under whom relations with Iran have deteriorated dramatically.

An aircraft taking its prime minister and former king to Saudi Arabia was denied permission by Iran to enter its airspace, forcing them to fly via Iraq

Bulgaria said Wednesday that an aircraft taking its prime minister and former king to Saudi Arabia was denied permission by Iran to enter its airspace, forcing them to fly via Iraq. "The refusal is inexplicable," Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva was quoted by Bulgarian media as saying from Riyadh a day after the incident. She said Iran's ambassador in Sofia has been summoned for an explanation. Iran had initially given the flight permission before it took off, she said. The plane was carrying former king Simeon Saxe Coburg, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Zaharieva and four other ministers. It was the first visit by a Bulgarian prime minister to Saudi Arabia since the former communist country, now a member of the European Union, and the kingdom established relations 20 years ago. Borisov was due to be received on Wednesday by King Salman and by the powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, under whom relations with Iran have deteriorated dramatically.

Iran denies Bulgaria PM entry into airspace

Iraqi forces thrust north from the Euphrates Valley into the desert on Saturday, opening up a new front in the drive to flush out fugitive Islamic State group fighters, a commander told AFP.

Islamic State has already been driven from all the towns it once held, but Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said he will not proclaim victory until the jihadists have been cleared from the western desert bordering Syria.

Troops and paramilitaries had advanced into the desert from the east and north on Thursday at the start of an offensive aimed at inflicting a final defeat on the jihadists.

Also read: <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/iraqi-forces-launch-operation-to-clear-desert-bordering-syria-of-islamic-state-24909">Iraqi forces launch operation to clear desert bordering Syria of Islamic State</a>

On Saturday, troops and tribal militia pushed north from Al-Qaim and Rawa, two Euphrates Valley towns recaptured from Islamic State earlier this month, in a pincer movement against retreating Islamic State fighters, one of the operation&#39;s two commanders told AFP.

&quot;It&#39;s a matter of linking up with the forces advancing from Nineveh&quot; province in the north, the commander said, asking not to be identified.

&quot;The aim of the operation is to clear the desert right up to the Syrian border and hunt down the terrorists who fled into the desert from the towns that have been liberated.&quot;

The Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) paramilitary force, which has played a key role in the offensive, said 100 villages and hamlets had already been cleared of Islamic State fighters.

&quot;The battle for the desert is very important because it&#39;s from there that Daesh fighters coming from Syria can attack our defence lines,&quot; said Hashed number two Abu Mahdi al-Mohandis, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

In a video posted by the Hashed, Mohandis said the desert was &quot;the last region where Daesh still has a military presence.&quot;

He said operations against it were under away over an area of 27,000 square kilometres (10,400 square miles).

But he warned that their completion would not spell the end of Islamic State.

&quot;We must hunt them down in areas that have been liberated and we must arrest them before they slip back into urban areas,&quot; said Mohandis, who is widely regarded as the strongman of the Hashed, which is largely composed of Iran-backed Shiite militias.

&quot;We must remain in a state of alert,&quot; he added. &quot;Security will not be fully assured until we have complete control of the border with Syria.&quot;

At the peak of its power in 2014, Islamic State ruled some seven million people in a territory as large as Italy, encompassing large parts of Syria and nearly a third of Iraq.

It is now being flushed out of its last desert hideouts in Iraq at the same time as its final pockets of control in Syria face simultaneous operations by Russian-backed government forces and US-backed Kurdish-led fighters.

Troops and paramilitaries had advanced into the desert from the east and north on Thursday at the start of an offensive aimed at inflicting a final defeat on the jihadists

Iraqi forces thrust north from the Euphrates Valley into the desert on Saturday, opening up a new front in the drive to flush out fugitive Islamic State group fighters, a commander told AFP. Islamic State has already been driven from all the towns it once held, but Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said he will not proclaim victory until the jihadists have been cleared from the western desert bordering Syria. Troops and paramilitaries had advanced into the desert from the east and north on Thursday at the start of an offensive aimed at inflicting a final defeat on the jihadists. Also read: Iraqi forces launch operation to clear desert bordering Syria of Islamic State On Saturday, troops and tribal militia pushed north from Al-Qaim and Rawa, two Euphrates Valley towns recaptured from Islamic State earlier this month, in a pincer movement against retreating Islamic State fighters, one of the operation's two commanders told AFP. "It's a matter of linking up with the forces advancing from Nineveh" province in the north, the commander said, asking not to be identified. "The aim of the operation is to clear the desert right up to the Syrian border and hunt down the terrorists who fled into the desert from the towns that have been liberated." The Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) paramilitary force, which has played a key role in the offensive, said 100 villages and hamlets had already been cleared of Islamic State fighters. "The battle for the desert is very important because it's from there that Daesh fighters coming from Syria can attack our defence lines," said Hashed number two Abu Mahdi al-Mohandis, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. In a video posted by the Hashed, Mohandis said the desert was "the last region where Daesh still has a military presence." He said operations against it were under away over an area of 27,000 square kilometres (10,400 square miles). But he warned that their completion would not spell the end of Islamic State. "We must hunt them down in areas that have been liberated and we must arrest them before they slip back into urban areas," said Mohandis, who is widely regarded as the strongman of the Hashed, which is largely composed of Iran-backed Shiite militias. "We must remain in a state of alert," he added. "Security will not be fully assured until we have complete control of the border with Syria." At the peak of its power in 2014, Islamic State ruled some seven million people in a territory as large as Italy, encompassing large parts of Syria and nearly a third of Iraq. It is now being flushed out of its last desert hideouts in Iraq at the same time as its final pockets of control in Syria face simultaneous operations by Russian-backed government forces and US-backed Kurdish-led fighters.

Iraq forces open new drive to flush out Islamic State

The government has accepted a high-level committee&#39;s recommendation of increasing by over three percent the quota of private tour operators sending Haj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.

The high-level committee formed by the government to frame draft &#39;Haj Policy 2018-2022&#39; had made the recommendation last month.

The committee had recommended that the quota of private tour operators be increased from the present 26.47 percent to 30 percent.

Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has confirmed that the panel&#39;s suggestion has been accepted.

India has an annual Haj quota of 1.70 lakh.

Out of this, according to the allocation for 2017, 1.25 lakh pilgrims could travel to Saudi Arabia through the Haj Committee of India (HCoI).

The private tour operators (PTOs) could transport 45,000 devotees.

The revision of the quota allocation now will mean that 51,000 devotees can travel through the PTOs.

Remaining 1.19 lakh devotees can undertake the journey through the HCoI.

&quot;We have accepted the recommendation. It is a logical recommendation which has been accepted after studying each aspect of the issue including that of interests of the pilgrims,&quot; Naqvi said.

He also said that the categories of PTOs have been increased to three from two.

The private players are categorized based on the number of years they have facilitated pilgrims (more the number of years of operation, higher the category they are put in).

Those, who have successfully completed at least seven years of operations, are put in category 1.

According to a source in the ministry, the allocation revision &quot;should not make much of a difference&quot; for devotees given the Haj subsidy is being gradually reduced in view of a 2012 Supreme Court order.

As per the apex court&#39;s order, the subsidy is to be abolished gradually till 2022.

&quot;Earlier people would seek to go through the HCoI because they would get subsidy. Now the subsidy is being gradually lowered since 2012,&quot; a source said.

&quot;So, it should not make much of a difference to the devotees whether they undertake the journey either through the HCoI or PTOs in future,&quot; the source added.

The source also said that the ministry plans to ensure stricter regulations to see pilgrims are not troubled by PTOs.

Iraqi forces launched an operation on Thursday to clear the desert bordering Syria of Islamic State, a final campaign to rid Iraq of the militant group, the military said in a statement.

The government has accepted a high-level committee's recommendation of increasing by over three percent the quota of private tour operators sending Haj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia. The high-level committee formed by the government to frame draft 'Haj Policy 2018-2022' had made the recommendation last month. The committee had recommended that the quota of private tour operators be increased from the present 26.47 percent to 30 percent. Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has confirmed that the panel's suggestion has been accepted. India has an annual Haj quota of 1.70 lakh. Out of this, according to the allocation for 2017, 1.25 lakh pilgrims could travel to Saudi Arabia through the Haj Committee of India (HCoI). The private tour operators (PTOs) could transport 45,000 devotees. The revision of the quota allocation now will mean that 51,000 devotees can travel through the PTOs. Remaining 1.19 lakh devotees can undertake the journey through the HCoI. "We have accepted the recommendation. It is a logical recommendation which has been accepted after studying each aspect of the issue including that of interests of the pilgrims," Naqvi said. He also said that the categories of PTOs have been increased to three from two. The private players are categorized based on the number of years they have facilitated pilgrims (more the number of years of operation, higher the category they are put in). Those, who have successfully completed at least seven years of operations, are put in category 1. According to a source in the ministry, the allocation revision "should not make much of a difference" for devotees given the Haj subsidy is being gradually reduced in view of a 2012 Supreme Court order. As per the apex court's order, the subsidy is to be abolished gradually till 2022. "Earlier people would seek to go through the HCoI because they would get subsidy. Now the subsidy is being gradually lowered since 2012," a source said. "So, it should not make much of a difference to the devotees whether they undertake the journey either through the HCoI or PTOs in future," the source added. The source also said that the ministry plans to ensure stricter regulations to see pilgrims are not troubled by PTOs.

Iraqi forces launch operation to clear desert bordering Syria of Islamic State

Islamic State beheaded 15 of its own fighters due to infighting in Afghanistan&#39;s eastern province of Nangarhar, officials said, while a separate suicide attack on Thursday tore into a crowd in the provincial capital, Jalalabad, killing at least eight.

The two incidents underline the insecurity and lawlessness across Afghanistan, where thousands of civilians have been killed or wounded this year, amid unrelenting violence involving militant groups including Islamic State and the Taliban.

In a bloody day for the province, a suicide bomber blew himself up, killing at least eight people at a meeting of supporters of a police commander who was sacked for illegal land grabbing.

There was no claim of responsibility and no immediate indication of who was behind the attack on the crowd in Jalalabad, which had gathered to demand the reinstatement of the commander, who survived the attack.

A spokesman for the Jalalabad hospital confirmed eight people had been killed and 15 wounded.

Nangarhar, on the porous border with Pakistan, has become a stronghold for Islamic State, generally known as Daesh in Afghanistan, which has grown to become one of the country&#39;s most dangerous militant groups since it appeared around the start of 2015.

Attaullah Khogyani, the provincial governor&#39;s spokesman, said the 15 Islamic State fighters were executed after a bout of infighting in the group, which has become notorious for its brutality. The killings occurred in the Surkh Ab bazaar of Achin district.

Further details were not available and there was no confirmation from Islamic State, whose local branch is known as Islamic State in Khorasan, an old name for the area that includes modern Afghanistan.

The Taliban and Islamic State have frequently fought each other in Nangarhar and both have been targeted by sustained US&nbsp;air strikes.

But the exact nature of the relationship between the two groups is little understood. There have been isolated incidents in Afghanistan in which the fighters of both appear to have cooperated.

Afghan intelligence documents reviewed by Reuters this year showed security officials believe Islamic State is present in nine provinces, from Nangarhar and Kunar in the east to Jawzjan, Faryab and Badakhshan in the north and Ghor in the central west.

The fighters were beheaded because of infighting

Islamic State beheaded 15 of its own fighters due to infighting in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar, officials said, while a separate suicide attack on Thursday tore into a crowd in the provincial capital, Jalalabad, killing at least eight. The two incidents underline the insecurity and lawlessness across Afghanistan, where thousands of civilians have been killed or wounded this year, amid unrelenting violence involving militant groups including Islamic State and the Taliban. In a bloody day for the province, a suicide bomber blew himself up, killing at least eight people at a meeting of supporters of a police commander who was sacked for illegal land grabbing. There was no claim of responsibility and no immediate indication of who was behind the attack on the crowd in Jalalabad, which had gathered to demand the reinstatement of the commander, who survived the attack. A spokesman for the Jalalabad hospital confirmed eight people had been killed and 15 wounded. Nangarhar, on the porous border with Pakistan, has become a stronghold for Islamic State, generally known as Daesh in Afghanistan, which has grown to become one of the country's most dangerous militant groups since it appeared around the start of 2015. Attaullah Khogyani, the provincial governor's spokesman, said the 15 Islamic State fighters were executed after a bout of infighting in the group, which has become notorious for its brutality. The killings occurred in the Surkh Ab bazaar of Achin district. Further details were not available and there was no confirmation from Islamic State, whose local branch is known as Islamic State in Khorasan, an old name for the area that includes modern Afghanistan. The Taliban and Islamic State have frequently fought each other in Nangarhar and both have been targeted by sustained US air strikes. But the exact nature of the relationship between the two groups is little understood. There have been isolated incidents in Afghanistan in which the fighters of both appear to have cooperated. Afghan intelligence documents reviewed by Reuters this year showed security officials believe Islamic State is present in nine provinces, from Nangarhar and Kunar in the east to Jawzjan, Faryab and Badakhshan in the north and Ghor in the central west.

Islamic State beheads 15 of its own fighters: Afghan officials

Iraq&#39;s supreme court on Monday declared that September&#39;s referendum on independence in the autonomous Kurdish areas in the north of the country was unconstitutional.

A statement said the court &quot;rendered a decision declaring unconstitutional the referendum held on September 25, 2017, in Iraqi Kurdistan... and canceling all the consequences and results that resulted&quot;.

Monday&#39;s legal move was the latest stage in a crisis sparked by the referendum, which resulted in a resounding &quot;yes&quot; vote for independence in the Kurdish area.

Last month, the UN Security Council urged the Iraqi government and regional leaders in Kurdistan to set a timetable for talks to end the crisis.

The world body&#39;s appeal came after Baghdad dismissed an offer from Iraqi Kurdish leaders to freeze the outcome of the referendum and hold talks.

Rejecting the freeze offer, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi instead demanded the annulment of the independence vote.

Last week, as the deadline announced by the Supreme Court for its decision on the constitutionality of the referendum approached, the Kurdistan government said it &quot;respected&quot; the decisions taken by Iraq&#39;s highest court.

It also said it respected a previous decision insisting on Iraqi unity, which could be a basis for dialogue.

Parliament in Baghdad is currently reviewing the federal budget for the coming year, including the allocation for the autonomous Kurdish region.

September&#39;s referendum was initiated by then Kurdish leader Massud Barzani, for whom the repercussions were severe.

Barzani at the beginning of November announced he was stepping aside, having lost almost all of the territory disputed between Kurdish capital Arbil and Baghdad.

The Kurds also lost all of the oil resources in Kirkuk province that could have ensured the viability of a hypothetical Kurdish state.

Monday's legal move was the latest stage in a crisis sparked by the referendum, which resulted in a resounding "yes" vote for independence in the Kurdish area

Iraq's supreme court on Monday declared that September's referendum on independence in the autonomous Kurdish areas in the north of the country was unconstitutional. A statement said the court "rendered a decision declaring unconstitutional the referendum held on September 25, 2017, in Iraqi Kurdistan... and canceling all the consequences and results that resulted". Monday's legal move was the latest stage in a crisis sparked by the referendum, which resulted in a resounding "yes" vote for independence in the Kurdish area. Last month, the UN Security Council urged the Iraqi government and regional leaders in Kurdistan to set a timetable for talks to end the crisis. The world body's appeal came after Baghdad dismissed an offer from Iraqi Kurdish leaders to freeze the outcome of the referendum and hold talks. Rejecting the freeze offer, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi instead demanded the annulment of the independence vote. Last week, as the deadline announced by the Supreme Court for its decision on the constitutionality of the referendum approached, the Kurdistan government said it "respected" the decisions taken by Iraq's highest court. It also said it respected a previous decision insisting on Iraqi unity, which could be a basis for dialogue. Parliament in Baghdad is currently reviewing the federal budget for the coming year, including the allocation for the autonomous Kurdish region. September's referendum was initiated by then Kurdish leader Massud Barzani, for whom the repercussions were severe. Barzani at the beginning of November announced he was stepping aside, having lost almost all of the territory disputed between Kurdish capital Arbil and Baghdad. The Kurds also lost all of the oil resources in Kirkuk province that could have ensured the viability of a hypothetical Kurdish state.

Iraq top court declares Kurd referendum unconstitutional

The Iraqi army retook the last town in the country still held by the Islamic State group on Friday as the jihadists&#39; self-proclaimed &quot;caliphate&quot; faced collapse on both sides of the border with Syria.

The lightning recapture of the small Euphrates valley town of Rawa in an offensive launched at dawn came as the jihadists were also under attack for a second day in the last town they still hold in Syria, Albu Kamal just over the border.

The Islamic State group (IS) has lost 95 per cent of the cross-border &quot;caliphate&quot; it declared in Iraq and Syria in 2014, the US-led coalition fighting it said on Wednesday.

Its losses include all of its major bastions, virtually confining it to pockets of countryside.

Government troops and paramilitary units &quot;liberated the whole of Rawa and raised the Iraqi flag on all of its official buildings,&quot; General Abdelamir Yarallah of Iraq&#39;s Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement.

An army general contacted by AFP at the front had predicted that the battle would be swift as &quot;the majority of IS fighters who were in the town have fled towards the Syrian border.&quot;

The JOC said appeals had been made for several days to the town&#39;s Sunni Arab residents to listen to radio broadcasts for instructions on what to do when the army entered.

Rawa was bypassed in an offensive by the Iraqi army that resulted in the recapture of the strategically important border town of Al-Qaim earlier this month.

The stretch of Euphrates valley abutting the border with Syria has long been a bastion of Sunni Arab insurgency, first against US-led troops after the invasion of 2003 and then against the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.

The porous frontier became a magnet for foreign fighters entering Iraq from Syria, which Baghdad accused of turning a blind eye, and a key smuggling route for arms and illicit goods.

US-led troops carried out repeated operations with code names like Matador and Steel Curtain in 2005 to flush out Al-Qaeda jihadists.

The region swiftly fell to IS when its fighters swept through the Sunni Arab heartland north and west of Baghdad in 2014 before proclaiming its &quot;caliphate&quot;.

Jihadist dream in tatters

The jihadists once controlled a territory the size of Britain but they have successively lost all their key strongholds, including Raqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq.

Over the border in Syria, IS still holds around 25 percent of the countryside of Deir Ezzor province but are under attack not only by government forces but also by US-backed Kurdish-led fighters.

In the border town of Albu Kamal, the Syrian army was battling IS fighters who mounted a surprise counterattack last week, pushing out government forces who had retaken it last month.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor of the war, said the new army offensive had successfully penetrated the town, with troops backed by Russian air strikes advancing from the west, east and south.

&quot;More than 7.5 million people have now been liberated&quot; from IS, Washington&#39;s envoy to the coalition, Brett McGurk, said late Wednesday, adding that the group&#39;s finances are now &quot;at their lowest levels to date&quot;.

With the jihadists&#39; dreams of statehood lying in tatters following the battlefield defeats, Western attention is increasingly pivoting to trying to block foreign fighters from returning home to carry out attacks. 
McGurk insisted that flows of foreign IS fighters into Syria have &quot;nearly stopped&quot;, and that jihadists are increasingly being picked up as they cross borders.

&quot;We are enhancing cooperation and border security, aviation security, law enforcement, financial sanctions, counter-messaging, and intelligence sharing to prevent ISIS from carrying out attacks in our homelands,&quot; he said.

Analysts have warned that in some areas recaptured from IS, government control remains weak and the jihadists retain the capability to wage a low-level insurgency.

&quot;We still have places by the Baghdad belt, areas including Ramadi and Fallujah... that are not well controlled at all,&quot; Michael Knights of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy told AFP earlier this month.

&quot;They (the jihadists) are back where they were in 2013... They will restart insurgency all over again.&quot;

Government troops and paramilitary units 'liberated the whole of Rawa and raised the Iraqi flag on all of its official buildings,'General Abdelamir Yarallah of Iraq's Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement

The Iraqi army retook the last town in the country still held by the Islamic State group on Friday as the jihadists' self-proclaimed "caliphate" faced collapse on both sides of the border with Syria. The lightning recapture of the small Euphrates valley town of Rawa in an offensive launched at dawn came as the jihadists were also under attack for a second day in the last town they still hold in Syria, Albu Kamal just over the border. The Islamic State group (IS) has lost 95 per cent of the cross-border "caliphate" it declared in Iraq and Syria in 2014, the US-led coalition fighting it said on Wednesday. Its losses include all of its major bastions, virtually confining it to pockets of countryside. Government troops and paramilitary units "liberated the whole of Rawa and raised the Iraqi flag on all of its official buildings," General Abdelamir Yarallah of Iraq's Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement. An army general contacted by AFP at the front had predicted that the battle would be swift as "the majority of IS fighters who were in the town have fled towards the Syrian border." The JOC said appeals had been made for several days to the town's Sunni Arab residents to listen to radio broadcasts for instructions on what to do when the army entered. Rawa was bypassed in an offensive by the Iraqi army that resulted in the recapture of the strategically important border town of Al-Qaim earlier this month. The stretch of Euphrates valley abutting the border with Syria has long been a bastion of Sunni Arab insurgency, first against US-led troops after the invasion of 2003 and then against the Shiite-led government in Baghdad. The porous frontier became a magnet for foreign fighters entering Iraq from Syria, which Baghdad accused of turning a blind eye, and a key smuggling route for arms and illicit goods. US-led troops carried out repeated operations with code names like Matador and Steel Curtain in 2005 to flush out Al-Qaeda jihadists. The region swiftly fell to IS when its fighters swept through the Sunni Arab heartland north and west of Baghdad in 2014 before proclaiming its "caliphate". Jihadist dream in tatters The jihadists once controlled a territory the size of Britain but they have successively lost all their key strongholds, including Raqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq. Over the border in Syria, IS still holds around 25 percent of the countryside of Deir Ezzor province but are under attack not only by government forces but also by US-backed Kurdish-led fighters. In the border town of Albu Kamal, the Syrian army was battling IS fighters who mounted a surprise counterattack last week, pushing out government forces who had retaken it last month. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor of the war, said the new army offensive had successfully penetrated the town, with troops backed by Russian air strikes advancing from the west, east and south. "More than 7.5 million people have now been liberated" from IS, Washington's envoy to the coalition, Brett McGurk, said late Wednesday, adding that the group's finances are now "at their lowest levels to date". With the jihadists' dreams of statehood lying in tatters following the battlefield defeats, Western attention is increasingly pivoting to trying to block foreign fighters from returning home to carry out attacks. McGurk insisted that flows of foreign IS fighters into Syria have "nearly stopped", and that jihadists are increasingly being picked up as they cross borders. "We are enhancing cooperation and border security, aviation security, law enforcement, financial sanctions, counter-messaging, and intelligence sharing to prevent ISIS from carrying out attacks in our homelands," he said. Analysts have warned that in some areas recaptured from IS, government control remains weak and the jihadists retain the capability to wage a low-level insurgency. "We still have places by the Baghdad belt, areas including Ramadi and Fallujah... that are not well controlled at all," Michael Knights of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy told AFP earlier this month. "They (the jihadists) are back where they were in 2013... They will restart insurgency all over again."

Iraq forces retake last IS-held town in country

The death toll from the deadliest earthquake in Iran and Iraq has risen to more than 450, leaving more than 7000 people injured, according to media reports.&nbsp;

Several homeless victims of the powerful earthquake were gathered on a cold night on Monday, state TV said.&nbsp;

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Search operations are being carried out for dozens of people still trapped under rubbles of collapsed houses in towns and villages in the mountainous area of the western province of Kermanshah that borders Iraq.

The earthquake which happened on Sunday was felt as far&nbsp;away as Turkey and Pakistan, according to reports.&nbsp;

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The epicenter was near Ezgeleh, Iran, about 135 miles northeast of Baghdad, and had a preliminary magnitude of 7.3. Seismologists in the country said it was the biggest quake to hit the western part of Iran, reports said.&nbsp;

At least eight people were killed on the Iraqi side of the border, according to Dr. Saif al-Badir, a spokesman for the Health Ministry, and at least 535 were hurt.

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Relief workers informed that proper aid was provided timely, however, there was a major shortage of blankets, children&#39;s clothes, medicine and large cans to store drinking water.&nbsp;

A local official said aftershocks hindered the process of setting up camps and tents for the homeless victims, but electricity had been restored in most of the quake-stricken areas.

&quot;The main problem is sheltering people in this cold weather. We need more tents,&quot; Qasr-e Shririn governor Faramarz Akbari told TV.

The epicenter was near Ezgeleh, Iran, about 135 miles northeast of Baghdad, and had a preliminary magnitude of 7.3. Seismologists in the country said it was the biggest quake to hit the western part of Iran

The death toll from the deadliest earthquake in Iran and Iraq has risen to more than 450, leaving more than 7000 people injured, according to media reports. Several homeless victims of the powerful earthquake were gathered on a cold night on Monday, state TV said. Representative Photo (Reuters) × Search operations are being carried out for dozens of people still trapped under rubbles of collapsed houses in towns and villages in the mountainous area of the western province of Kermanshah that borders Iraq. The earthquake which happened on Sunday was felt as far away as Turkey and Pakistan, according to reports. Representative Photo (Reuters) × The epicenter was near Ezgeleh, Iran, about 135 miles northeast of Baghdad, and had a preliminary magnitude of 7.3. Seismologists in the country said it was the biggest quake to hit the western part of Iran, reports said. At least eight people were killed on the Iraqi side of the border, according to Dr. Saif al-Badir, a spokesman for the Health Ministry, and at least 535 were hurt. Representative Photo (Reuters) × Relief workers informed that proper aid was provided timely, however, there was a major shortage of blankets, children's clothes, medicine and large cans to store drinking water. A local official said aftershocks hindered the process of setting up camps and tents for the homeless victims, but electricity had been restored in most of the quake-stricken areas. "The main problem is sheltering people in this cold weather. We need more tents," Qasr-e Shririn governor Faramarz Akbari told TV.

Iran-Iraq earthquake: Death toll crosses 450, search operation on

Iranian rescue workers dug through rubble in a hunt for survivors on Monday after a major earthquake struck the Iran-Iraq border, killing more than 300 and injuring thousands.

The 7.3-magnitude quake hit a border area 30 kilometres (20 miles) southwest of Halabja in Iraqi Kurdistan at around 9:20 pm (1820 GMT) on Sunday, when many people would have been at home, the US Geological Survey said.

The worst affected areas were in Iran&#39;s western province of Kermanshah, where the coroner&#39;s office told state television that at least 328 people were dead and another 2,350 injured.

Across the border in Iraq, where the areas are more sparsely populated, the health ministry said eight people had died and several hundred were injured.

Some Iranians spent the night outdoors after fleeing their homes in the mountainous cross-border region, huddling around fires at dawn as the authorities deployed help to affected areas.

A woman and her baby were pulled out alive from the rubble in the Iranian town of Sar-e Pol-e Zaham, the worst hit in the quake, local media reported.

Officials said they were setting up relief camps but that access to the areas was not easy.

Iran&#39;s emergency services chief Pir Hossein Koolivand said it was &quot;difficult to send rescue teams to the villages because the roads have been cut off... there have been landslides&quot;.

The official IRNA news agency said 30 Red Cross teams had been sent to the quake zone, parts of which had experienced power cuts.

Iran&#39;s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the government and armed forces to mobilise &quot;all their means&quot; to help the population.

Collapsed walls&nbsp;

Local media reported hundreds of ambulances and dozens of army helicopters mobilised for rescue operations including in rural areas.

Sar-e Pol-e Zahab, an area of some 85,000 people close to the border, was the worst hit, with at least 236 dead, while the towns of Eslamabad and Qasr-e Shirin were also affected.

Some 259,000 people live in the areas around these towns, according to the latest population census.

State television footage showed tents, blankets, and food being distributed in areas hit by the quake.

At dawn on Monday in Sar-e Pol-e Zahab, buildings stood disfigured, their former facades lying in rubble on crumpled vehicles.

In an open space away from the wrecked housing blocks, men and women, some wrapped in blankets, huddled around a camp fire to keep warm.

In Iraq, the health ministry said the quake had killed seven people in the northern province of Sulaimaniyah and one in the province of Diyala to its south.

More than 500 people were injured in both provinces and the nearby province of Kirkuk.

Footage posted on Twitter showed panicked people fleeing a building in Sulaimaniyah, as windows shattered at the moment the quake struck, while images from the nearby town of Darbandikhan showed walls and concrete structures had collapsed.

In Darbandikhan, officials called on residents to sleep outside their homes as a precautionary measure.

In Sulaimaniyah, residents ran out onto the streets and some damage to property was reported, an AFP reporter there said.

Rekot Rachid, health minister for the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region, said that, in Sulaimaniyah, four people were killed in the town of Darbandikhan, two in Karmiyan and another in the provincial capital.

Residents flee homes in Turkey&nbsp;

The quake, which struck at a relatively shallow depth of 23 kilometres, was felt for about 20 seconds in Baghdad, and for longer in other provinces of Iraq, AFP journalists said.

Iraqi health authorities said they treated dozens of people in its aftermath, most for shock.

On the Iranian side of the border, the tremor shook several cities in the west of the country including Tabriz.

It was also felt in southeastern Turkey, an AFP correspondent said. In the town of Diyarbakir, residents were reported to have fled their homes.

The quake struck along a 1,500-kilometre fault line between the Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates, a belt extending through western Iran and into northeastern Iraq.

The area sees frequent seismic activity.

In 1990, a 7.4-magnitude quake near the Caspian Sea in northern Iran killed 40,000 people and left 300,000 more injured and half a million homeless. Within seconds the quake reduced dozens of towns and nearly 2,000 villages to rubble.

Thirteen years later, a catastrophic quake struck the ancient southeast Iranian city of Bam, famed for its mud brick buildings, killing at least 31,000 people and flattening swathes of the city.

Since then, Iran has experienced at least two major quake disasters, one in 2005 that killed more than 600 and another in 2012 that left some 300 dead.

More recently, a 5.7-magnitude earthquake near Iran&#39;s border with Turkmenistan in May killed two people, injured hundreds and caused widespread damage.

The worst affected areas were in Iran's western province of Kermanshah, where the coroner's office told state television that at least 328 people were dead and another 2,350 injured

Iranian rescue workers dug through rubble in a hunt for survivors on Monday after a major earthquake struck the Iran-Iraq border, killing more than 300 and injuring thousands. The 7.3-magnitude quake hit a border area 30 kilometres (20 miles) southwest of Halabja in Iraqi Kurdistan at around 9:20 pm (1820 GMT) on Sunday, when many people would have been at home, the US Geological Survey said. The worst affected areas were in Iran's western province of Kermanshah, where the coroner's office told state television that at least 328 people were dead and another 2,350 injured. Across the border in Iraq, where the areas are more sparsely populated, the health ministry said eight people had died and several hundred were injured. Some Iranians spent the night outdoors after fleeing their homes in the mountainous cross-border region, huddling around fires at dawn as the authorities deployed help to affected areas. A woman and her baby were pulled out alive from the rubble in the Iranian town of Sar-e Pol-e Zaham, the worst hit in the quake, local media reported. Officials said they were setting up relief camps but that access to the areas was not easy. Iran's emergency services chief Pir Hossein Koolivand said it was "difficult to send rescue teams to the villages because the roads have been cut off... there have been landslides". The official IRNA news agency said 30 Red Cross teams had been sent to the quake zone, parts of which had experienced power cuts. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the government and armed forces to mobilise "all their means" to help the population. Collapsed walls Local media reported hundreds of ambulances and dozens of army helicopters mobilised for rescue operations including in rural areas. Sar-e Pol-e Zahab, an area of some 85,000 people close to the border, was the worst hit, with at least 236 dead, while the towns of Eslamabad and Qasr-e Shirin were also affected. Some 259,000 people live in the areas around these towns, according to the latest population census. State television footage showed tents, blankets, and food being distributed in areas hit by the quake. At dawn on Monday in Sar-e Pol-e Zahab, buildings stood disfigured, their former facades lying in rubble on crumpled vehicles. In an open space away from the wrecked housing blocks, men and women, some wrapped in blankets, huddled around a camp fire to keep warm. In Iraq, the health ministry said the quake had killed seven people in the northern province of Sulaimaniyah and one in the province of Diyala to its south. More than 500 people were injured in both provinces and the nearby province of Kirkuk. Footage posted on Twitter showed panicked people fleeing a building in Sulaimaniyah, as windows shattered at the moment the quake struck, while images from the nearby town of Darbandikhan showed walls and concrete structures had collapsed. In Darbandikhan, officials called on residents to sleep outside their homes as a precautionary measure. In Sulaimaniyah, residents ran out onto the streets and some damage to property was reported, an AFP reporter there said. Rekot Rachid, health minister for the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region, said that, in Sulaimaniyah, four people were killed in the town of Darbandikhan, two in Karmiyan and another in the provincial capital. Residents flee homes in Turkey The quake, which struck at a relatively shallow depth of 23 kilometres, was felt for about 20 seconds in Baghdad, and for longer in other provinces of Iraq, AFP journalists said. Iraqi health authorities said they treated dozens of people in its aftermath, most for shock. On the Iranian side of the border, the tremor shook several cities in the west of the country including Tabriz. It was also felt in southeastern Turkey, an AFP correspondent said. In the town of Diyarbakir, residents were reported to have fled their homes. The quake struck along a 1,500-kilometre fault line between the Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates, a belt extending through western Iran and into northeastern Iraq. The area sees frequent seismic activity. In 1990, a 7.4-magnitude quake near the Caspian Sea in northern Iran killed 40,000 people and left 300,000 more injured and half a million homeless. Within seconds the quake reduced dozens of towns and nearly 2,000 villages to rubble. Thirteen years later, a catastrophic quake struck the ancient southeast Iranian city of Bam, famed for its mud brick buildings, killing at least 31,000 people and flattening swathes of the city. Since then, Iran has experienced at least two major quake disasters, one in 2005 that killed more than 600 and another in 2012 that left some 300 dead. More recently, a 5.7-magnitude earthquake near Iran's border with Turkmenistan in May killed two people, injured hundreds and caused widespread damage.

Iran hunts for survivors as quake kills more than 300 near Iraq border

At least 332 people were killed in Iran and Iraq when a magnitude 7.3 earthquake jolted the region on Sunday, state media in the two countries said, and rescuers were searching for dozens trapped under rubble in the mountainous area.

State television said more than 328 people were killed in Iran and at least 2,500 were injured. Local officials said the death toll would rise as search and rescue teams reached remote areas of Iran.

The earthquake was felt in several western provinces of Iran but the hardest hit province was Kermanshah, which announced three days of mourning. More than 236 of the victims were in Sarpol-e Zahab county in Kermanshah province, about 15 km (10 miles) from the Iraq border.

Iranian state television said the quake had caused heavy damage in some villages where houses were made of earthen bricks. Rescuers were labouring to find survivors trapped under collapsed buildings.

The quake also triggered landslides that hindered rescue efforts, officials told state television. At least 14 provinces in Iran had been affected, Iranian media reported.

Iran&#39;s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei offered his condolences on Monday, urging all government agencies to do all they could to help those affected.

Dancing buildings

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake measured magnitude 7.3. An Iraqi meteorology official put its magnitude at 6.5 with the epicentre in Penjwin in Sulaimaniyah province in the Kurdistan region, close to the main border crossing with Iran.

Kurdish health officials said at least four people were killed in Iraq and at least 50 injured.

The quake was felt as far south as Baghdad, where many residents rushed from their houses and tall buildings when tremors shook the Iraqi capital.

&quot;I was sitting with my kids having dinner and suddenly the building was just dancing in the air,&quot; said Majida Ameer, who ran out of her building in the capital&#39;s Salihiya district with her three children.

&quot;I thought at first that it was a huge bomb. But then I heard everyone around me screaming: &#39;Earthquake!&#39;&quot;

Similar scenes unfolded in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, and across other cities in northern Iraq, close to the quake&#39;s epicentre.

Cold weather

Electricity was cut off in several Iranian and Iraqi cities, and fears of aftershocks sent thousands of people in both countries out onto the streets and parks in cold weather.

The Iranian seismological centre registered around 118 aftershocks and said more were expected. The head of Iranian Red Crescent said more than 70,000 people were in need of emergency shelter.

Hojjat Gharibian was one of the hundreds of homeless Iranian survivors, who was huddled against the cold with his family in Qasr-e Shirin.

&quot;My two children were sleeping when the house started to collapse because of the quake. I took them and ran to the street. We spent hours in the street until aid workers moved us into a school building,&quot; Gharibian told Reuters by telephone.

Iran&#39;s police, the elite Revolutionary Guards and its affiliated Basij militia forces were dispatched to the quake-hit areas overnight, state TV reported.

Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said some roads were blocked and authorities were worried about casualties in remote villages. An Iranian oil official said pipelines and refineries in the area remained intact.

Iran sits astride major fault lines and is prone to frequent tremors. A magnitude 6.6 quake on Dec. 26, 2003, devastated the historic city of Bam, 1,000 km southeast of Tehran, killing about 31,000 people.

Hospital severely damaged

On the Iraqi side, the most extensive damage was in the town of Darbandikhan, 75 km east of the city of Sulaimaniyah in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region.

More than 30 people were injured in the town, according to Kurdish Health Minister Rekawt Hama Rasheed.

&quot;The situation there is very critical,&quot; Rasheed told Reuters.

The district&#39;s main hospital was severely damaged and had no power, Rasheed said, so the injured were taken to Sulaimaniyah for treatment. Homes and buildings had extensive structural damage, he said.

In Halabja, local officials said a 12-year-old boy died of an electric shock from a falling electric cable.

Iraq&#39;s meteorology centre advised people to stay away from buildings and not to use elevators in case of aftershocks.

Turkey and Israel

Residents of Turkey&#39;s southeastern city of Diyarbakir also reported feeling a strong tremor, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties there.

Turkish Red Crescent Chairman Kerem Kinik told broadcaster NTV that Red Crescent teams in Erbil were preparing to go to the site of the earthquake and that Turkey&rsquo;s national disaster management agency, AFAD, and National Medical Rescue Teams (UMKE) were also preparing to head into Iraq.

AFAD&rsquo;s chairman said the organisation was waiting for a reply to its offer for help.

In a tweet, Kinik said the Turkish Red Crescent was gathering 3,000 tents and heaters, 10,000 beds and blankets and moving them towards the Iraqi border.

&quot;We are coordinating with Iranian and Iraqi Red Crescent groups. We are also getting prepared to make deliveries from our northern Iraq Erbil depot,&quot; he said.

Israeli media said the quake was felt in many parts of Israel as well. In a statement, Israeli Intelligence Minister Israel Katz said, &quot;My condolences to the people of Iran and Iraq over the loss of human life caused by the earthquake.&quot; Iran refuses to recognise Israel.

The quake also triggered landslides that hindered rescue efforts, officials told state television. At least 14 provinces in Iran had been affected, Iranian media reported.

At least 332 people were killed in Iran and Iraq when a magnitude 7.3 earthquake jolted the region on Sunday, state media in the two countries said, and rescuers were searching for dozens trapped under rubble in the mountainous area. State television said more than 328 people were killed in Iran and at least 2,500 were injured. Local officials said the death toll would rise as search and rescue teams reached remote areas of Iran. The earthquake was felt in several western provinces of Iran but the hardest hit province was Kermanshah, which announced three days of mourning. More than 236 of the victims were in Sarpol-e Zahab county in Kermanshah province, about 15 km (10 miles) from the Iraq border. Iranian state television said the quake had caused heavy damage in some villages where houses were made of earthen bricks. Rescuers were labouring to find survivors trapped under collapsed buildings. The quake also triggered landslides that hindered rescue efforts, officials told state television. At least 14 provinces in Iran had been affected, Iranian media reported. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei offered his condolences on Monday, urging all government agencies to do all they could to help those affected. Dancing buildings The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake measured magnitude 7.3. An Iraqi meteorology official put its magnitude at 6.5 with the epicentre in Penjwin in Sulaimaniyah province in the Kurdistan region, close to the main border crossing with Iran. Kurdish health officials said at least four people were killed in Iraq and at least 50 injured. The quake was felt as far south as Baghdad, where many residents rushed from their houses and tall buildings when tremors shook the Iraqi capital. "I was sitting with my kids having dinner and suddenly the building was just dancing in the air," said Majida Ameer, who ran out of her building in the capital's Salihiya district with her three children. "I thought at first that it was a huge bomb. But then I heard everyone around me screaming: 'Earthquake!'" Similar scenes unfolded in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, and across other cities in northern Iraq, close to the quake's epicentre. Cold weather Electricity was cut off in several Iranian and Iraqi cities, and fears of aftershocks sent thousands of people in both countries out onto the streets and parks in cold weather. The Iranian seismological centre registered around 118 aftershocks and said more were expected. The head of Iranian Red Crescent said more than 70,000 people were in need of emergency shelter. Hojjat Gharibian was one of the hundreds of homeless Iranian survivors, who was huddled against the cold with his family in Qasr-e Shirin. "My two children were sleeping when the house started to collapse because of the quake. I took them and ran to the street. We spent hours in the street until aid workers moved us into a school building," Gharibian told Reuters by telephone. Iran's police, the elite Revolutionary Guards and its affiliated Basij militia forces were dispatched to the quake-hit areas overnight, state TV reported. Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said some roads were blocked and authorities were worried about casualties in remote villages. An Iranian oil official said pipelines and refineries in the area remained intact. Iran sits astride major fault lines and is prone to frequent tremors. A magnitude 6.6 quake on Dec. 26, 2003, devastated the historic city of Bam, 1,000 km southeast of Tehran, killing about 31,000 people. Hospital severely damaged On the Iraqi side, the most extensive damage was in the town of Darbandikhan, 75 km east of the city of Sulaimaniyah in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region. More than 30 people were injured in the town, according to Kurdish Health Minister Rekawt Hama Rasheed. "The situation there is very critical," Rasheed told Reuters. The district's main hospital was severely damaged and had no power, Rasheed said, so the injured were taken to Sulaimaniyah for treatment. Homes and buildings had extensive structural damage, he said. In Halabja, local officials said a 12-year-old boy died of an electric shock from a falling electric cable. Iraq's meteorology centre advised people to stay away from buildings and not to use elevators in case of aftershocks. Turkey and Israel Residents of Turkey's southeastern city of Diyarbakir also reported feeling a strong tremor, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties there. Turkish Red Crescent Chairman Kerem Kinik told broadcaster NTV that Red Crescent teams in Erbil were preparing to go to the site of the earthquake and that Turkey’s national disaster management agency, AFAD, and National Medical Rescue Teams (UMKE) were also preparing to head into Iraq. AFAD’s chairman said the organisation was waiting for a reply to its offer for help. In a tweet, Kinik said the Turkish Red Crescent was gathering 3,000 tents and heaters, 10,000 beds and blankets and moving them towards the Iraqi border. "We are coordinating with Iranian and Iraqi Red Crescent groups. We are also getting prepared to make deliveries from our northern Iraq Erbil depot," he said. Israeli media said the quake was felt in many parts of Israel as well. In a statement, Israeli Intelligence Minister Israel Katz said, "My condolences to the people of Iran and Iraq over the loss of human life caused by the earthquake." Iran refuses to recognise Israel.

Iran-Iraq earthquake: Death toll rises to 332

The Syrian army and its allies have taken Albu Kamal, Islamic State&rsquo;s last major stronghold in Syria, representing the end of Islamic State&rsquo;s project in the region, the army general command said on Thursday.

The army said it is now fighting the last remaining IS pockets in the country&rsquo;s eastern desert, an army statement said.

&ldquo;The liberation of Albu Kamal city is very important because it signals the general fall of the terrorist Daesh organisation&rsquo;s project in the region,&rdquo; a statement from the general command said.

Alongside Lebanon&rsquo;s Hezbollah and other Shi&lsquo;ite militias, and backed by Iran and Russia, the Syrian army has recently seized swathes of land from Islamic State.

Albu Kamal, on the Euphrates River, is located in Syria&rsquo;s eastern Deir al-Zor province on the Iraqi border.

On Wednesday, during the battle, Hezbollah forces entered Iraq and the Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Forces crossed into Syria to help capture the town, a commander in the pro-Damascus alliance told Reuters on Wednesday.

Two pilots and five army officers were killed, Iraqi air force officers told Reuters.

The Syrian army and its allies have taken Albu Kamal, Islamic State’s last major stronghold in Syria, representing the end of Islamic State’s project in the region, the army general command said on Thursday. The army said it is now fighting the last remaining IS pockets in the country’s eastern desert, an army statement said. “The liberation of Albu Kamal city is very important because it signals the general fall of the terrorist Daesh organisation’s project in the region,” a statement from the general command said. Alongside Lebanon’s Hezbollah and other Shi‘ite militias, and backed by Iran and Russia, the Syrian army has recently seized swathes of land from Islamic State. Albu Kamal, on the Euphrates River, is located in Syria’s eastern Deir al-Zor province on the Iraqi border. On Wednesday, during the battle, Hezbollah forces entered Iraq and the Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Forces crossed into Syria to help capture the town, a commander in the pro-Damascus alliance told Reuters on Wednesday.

Iraqi army helicopter crash kills seven, military says

Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani gave a bitter speech on Sunday to announce his resignation, saying no one outside the Kurds&#39; home region had stood up to support their right of self-determination.

Barzani made a televised speech after the Iraqi Kurdistan parliament approved his request not to extend his term beyond Nov. 1, after an independence referendum he championed last month backfired and triggered military and economic retaliation against the Kurdish region he has been leading since 2005.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/iraqi-forces-seize-oil-city-of-kirkuk-from-kurds-22517" target="_blank">Also read: After they threaten independence referendum, Iraqi forces seize oil city of Kirkuk from Kurds</a>

&quot;Three million votes for Kurdistan independence created history and cannot be erased,&quot; he said, referring to the referendum held on Sept. 25.

&quot;Nobody stood up with us other than our mountains,&quot; he said, speaking with Kurdish and Iraqi flags behind him.

He criticised the United States for allowing Abrams tanks supplied to Iraqi forces to fight Islamic State militants to be used against the Kurds. He said American weapons were also used in attacks by Iranian-backed paramilitaries.

&quot;Without the help of Peshmerga (Kurdish fighters), Iraqi forces could not have liberated Mosul from ISIS alone,&quot; he said, referring to Islamic State&#39;s former stronghold in northern Iraq.

&quot;Why would Washington want to punish Kurdistan?&quot;

He said followers of rival Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani, who died in early October, had been guilty of &quot;high treason&quot; for handing over the oil city of Kirkuk to Iraqi forces without a fight two weeks ago.

He said the Iraqi offensives since Oct. 16 and the refusal of the Iraqi government to agree to dialogue vindicated his view that &quot;Iraq no longer believes in Kurdish rights&quot;.

'Nobody stood up with us other than our mountains,' Barzani said in a televised address

Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani gave a bitter speech on Sunday to announce his resignation, saying no one outside the Kurds' home region had stood up to support their right of self-determination. Barzani made a televised speech after the Iraqi Kurdistan parliament approved his request not to extend his term beyond Nov. 1, after an independence referendum he championed last month backfired and triggered military and economic retaliation against the Kurdish region he has been leading since 2005. Also read: After they threaten independence referendum, Iraqi forces seize oil city of Kirkuk from Kurds "Three million votes for Kurdistan independence created history and cannot be erased," he said, referring to the referendum held on Sept. 25. "Nobody stood up with us other than our mountains," he said, speaking with Kurdish and Iraqi flags behind him. He criticised the United States for allowing Abrams tanks supplied to Iraqi forces to fight Islamic State militants to be used against the Kurds. He said American weapons were also used in attacks by Iranian-backed paramilitaries. "Without the help of Peshmerga (Kurdish fighters), Iraqi forces could not have liberated Mosul from ISIS alone," he said, referring to Islamic State's former stronghold in northern Iraq. "Why would Washington want to punish Kurdistan?" He said followers of rival Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani, who died in early October, had been guilty of "high treason" for handing over the oil city of Kirkuk to Iraqi forces without a fight two weeks ago. He said the Iraqi offensives since Oct. 16 and the refusal of the Iraqi government to agree to dialogue vindicated his view that "Iraq no longer believes in Kurdish rights".

Kurdish leader Barzani resigns after independence referendum leads to military action by Iraq

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