Raid by US, Iraqi forces kills 15 Daesh operatives in Anbar

Iraqi soldiers from the new 'desert battalion' special forces stand next to military vehicles as the take part in a graduation ceremony in Anbar west of Baghdad on February 29, 2024. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 31 August 2024
Follow

Raid by US, Iraqi forces kills 15 Daesh operatives in Anbar

  • All Daesh hideouts, weapons, and logistical support were destroyed, explosive belts were safely detonated, and important documents, identification papers, and communication devices were seized

BAGHDAD: The US military and Iraq launched a joint raid targeting suspected Daesh terrorists in the country’s western desert that killed at least 15 people and left seven American troops hurt, officials said on Saturday.
For years after dislodging the militants from their self-declared caliphate across Iraq and Syria, US forces have fought Daesh. However, the casualties from this raid were higher than in previous ones.
The US military’s Central Command said the militants were armed with “numerous weapons, grenades, and explosive ‘suicide’ belts” during the raid on Thursday, which Iraqi forces said happened in the country’s Anbar Desert.
“This operation targeted Daesh leaders to disrupt and degrade Daesh’s ability to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against Iraqi civilians, as well as US citizens, allies, and partners throughout the region and beyond,” Central Command said.
“Iraqi security forces continue to further exploit the locations raided.”
It added: “There is no indication of civilian casualties.”
An Iraqi military statement said “airstrikes targeted the hideouts, followed by an airborne operation.”
“Among the dead were key Daesh leaders,” Iraq’s military said, without identifying them.
“All hideouts, weapons, and logistical support were destroyed, explosive belts were safely detonated, and important documents, identification papers, and communication devices were seized.”
A US defense official said that five American troops were wounded in the raid, while two others suffered injuries from falls during the operation.
The official said that one who suffered a fall was transported out of the region, while one of the wounded was evacuated for further treatment.
“All personnel are in stable condition,” the official said.
It was not immediately clear why it took two days for the US to acknowledge it took part in the raid.  Iraq did not say the US took part in the operation when initially announcing it, as politicians debate the future of having American troops in the country.
There are approximately 2,500 US troops in Iraq.
Since the US toppled Saddam Hussein with its 2003 invasion of Iraq, the country has struggled to balance relations between America and neighboring Iran.
Since the Israel-Hamas war broke out, Iraqi militias allied to Iran have targeted US forces there, leading to American airstrikes targeting them.
At its peak, Daesh ruled an area half the size of the UK. It attempted to enforce its extremist policies, which included attacks on religious minority groups.
A coalition of more than 80 countries led by the US was formed to fight the group, which lost its hold on the territory it controlled in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019.
However, the militants have continued to operate in the Anbar Desert in Iraq and Syria while claiming attacks carried out by others elsewhere in the world inspired by the group. That includes the two suspects in a foiled plot to attack Taylor Swift’s shows in Vienna.
Meanwhile, the Daesh branch in Afghanistan is known to carry out intensely bloody assaults.
Last month, the US military said the number of attacks claimed by Daesh in Syria and Iraq was on track to double this year compared with the year before.
Daesh claimed 153 attacks in the two countries in the first six months of 2024, compared with 121 attacks in 2023.
Iraqi officials say that they can keep the IS threat under control with their forces and have entered into talks with the US aimed at winding down the mission of the US-led military coalition in Iraq.
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza last October, US military presence in the region has become particularly contentious.
An umbrella group of Iran-backed militias calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has periodically launched drone attacks on bases housing US troops in Iraq and Syria, which they said was in retaliation for Washington’s support of Israel in the ongoing war in Gaza and were aimed at forcing US forces to withdraw from Iraq.

 

 


Syria believed to make no purchase in 100,000 T wheat tender, traders say

Updated 2 sec ago
Follow

Syria believed to make no purchase in 100,000 T wheat tender, traders say

Traders said Syria could issue a new purchase tender soon
Shipment was sought within 45 days from the contract award

HAMBURG: A Syrian state grains agency is believed to have made no purchase in an international tender seeking 100,000 metric tons of milling wheat which closed in April, European traders said on Thursday.
Traders said Syria could issue a new purchase tender soon.
Shipment was sought within 45 days from the contract award.
Syria had bought about 100,000 tons of wheat in its previous tender reported on March 25, which was believed to be the first large purchase tender since the change of power in Syria late last year.
But the donation by Iraq of 220,000 tons of wheat to Syria was expected to be used for Syria’s immediate import requirements, traders said.

Chinese embassy in Sudan urges citizens to evacuate amid security concerns

Updated 51 min 9 sec ago
Follow

Chinese embassy in Sudan urges citizens to evacuate amid security concerns

  • The embassy warned of dwindling supplies of water, electricity and fuel

BEIJING: The Chinese embassy in Sudan on Thursday issued a statement urging Chinese citizens in the country to evacuate as soon as possible, citing deteriorating security situation and rising security risks.
The embassy warned of dwindling supplies of water, electricity and fuel, and advised citizens to evacuate via ships to Saudi Arabia or available international flights, or to travel by land to Egypt.


Drone strikes spark civilian exodus from army-controlled Sudan aid hub

Updated 08 May 2025
Follow

Drone strikes spark civilian exodus from army-controlled Sudan aid hub

  • Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast had been regarded as a safe haven, hosting United Nations offices and hundreds of thousands of displaced people
  • RSF drone strikes on Port Sudan this week hit key facilities including the country’s last functioning international airport

PORT SUDAN: Paramilitary drones struck army-held areas of eastern and southern Sudan for a fifth straight day Thursday, army sources said, prompting an exodus of civilians from Port Sudan, seat of the army-backed government.
Attacks targeted the country’s main naval base outside Port Sudan, as well as fuel depots in the southern city of Kosti, two sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“The militia launched another drone attack on the Flamingo Naval Base north of Port Sudan,” one source told AFP on condition of anonymity, referring to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), at war with the regular army since April 2023.
Explosions were heard across the city, an AFP correspondent reported.
Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast had been regarded as a safe haven, hosting United Nations offices and hundreds of thousands of displaced people, until drone strikes blamed on the RSF began on Sunday.
The port city is the main entry point for humanitarian aid into Sudan, and UN chief Antonio Guterres warned the attacks “threaten to increase humanitarian needs and further complicate aid operations in the country,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Nearly 1,100 kilometers (some 680 miles) to the southwest, in the army-controlled city of Kosti in White Nile state, RSF drones struck fuel depots, setting off massive fires, a military source said.
“The militia targeted the fuel depots that supply the state with three drones, causing fires to break out,” the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
There were no immediate reports of any casualties.
More than two years of war have killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted 13 million, according to UN figures.


RSF drone strikes on Port Sudan this week hit key facilities including the country’s last functioning international airport, its largest working fuel depot and the city’s main power station.
An army source said air defenses had shot down 15 drones over the city overnight.
At Port Sudan’s bustling main bus station, civilians were scrambling to leave.
“You can’t get a ticket without booking over a day in advance now, all the buses are booked,” said bus company employee Mahmoud Hussein.
Among those fleeing was Haidar Ibrahim, preparing to travel south with his family.
“The smoke is everywhere and my wife suffers from asthma,” he told AFP. “We have no choice but to leave.”
Many of those who had sought refuge in Port Sudan have been displaced multiple times before, fleeing each time the front line closed in.
Transport costs have nearly doubled as a result of fuel shortages triggered by the attacks.
“Now, we have to buy fuel on the black market,” said tuk-tuk driver Abdel-Meguid Babiker.
On Wednesday evening, drones were also seen over the army-held eastern city of Kassala and northern city of Merowe, prompting anti-aircraft fire.
Eight-country east African bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), called the attacks on civilian infrastructure in Port Sudan “unacceptable” and demanded an “immediate end.”
“Any assault on this critical hub further compounds human suffering and impedes the delivery of urgently needed assistance,” IGAD executive secretary Workneh Gebeyehu said in a statement.
The RSF has not commented on the drone strikes, which have hit targets hundreds of kilometers away from their closest known positions on the outskirts of greater Khartoum.
The paramilitaries have ramped up their drone campaign since losing control of nearly all of greater Khartoum to the army in March.
On Tuesday, the army-backed government severed ties with the United Arab Emirates, accusing it of supplying the RSF with advanced weapons systems.
The UAE denied the allegation, adding that the internationally recognized administration “does not represent the legitimate government of Sudan.”
The paramilitaries and their allies have moved to establish a rival administration in areas under their control.
Abu Dhabi has repeatedly denied arming the RSF, despite reports from UN experts, US politicians and international organizations.
The war has effectively split the country in two, with the army holding the north, east and center, and the RSF in control of most of Darfur and parts of the south.


Lebanon reports one dead in strikes that Israeli says targeted Hezbollah

Updated 57 min 51 sec ago
Follow

Lebanon reports one dead in strikes that Israeli says targeted Hezbollah

  • The health ministry said the strikes killed one person and wounded eight others
  • The Israeli military said it struck “a terrorist infrastructure site” used by Hezbollah “to manage its fire and defense array“

BEIRUT: Lebanon said heavy Israeli strikes on the country’s south on Thursday killed one person as the Israeli army said it struck Hezbollah “infrastructure,” the latest raids despite a fragile ceasefire.
Israel has continued to launch regular strikes on its neighbor despite the November truce which sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group including two months of full-blown war.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) said “Israeli warplanes carried out a wide-scale aerial aggression on the Nabatiyeh region, launching a series of heavy raids in two waves” targeting hills and valleys in the area, located around 12 kilometers (seven miles) from the border.
The health ministry said the strikes killed one person and wounded eight others, adding that the toll was provisional.
The Israeli military said it struck “a terrorist infrastructure site” used by Hezbollah “to manage its fire and defense array.”
It said it struck Hezbollah operatives, “weapons, and tunnel shafts,” adding that “this infrastructure is part of a significant underground project that... has been rendered inoperable” by Israeli military raids.
It called the site and activities there “a blatant violation of the understanding between Israel and Lebanon.”
The NNA said “huge explosions... echoed in most areas of Nabatiyeh and the south,” causing “terror and panic” among residents, who rushed to pick up their children from school, as ambulances headed to the targeted areas.
An AFP photographer saw smoke rising from hills in the region.
“We heard a loud strike, about 10 consecutive blows,” said Jamal Sabbagh, a 29-year-old doctor who was giving schoolchildren health checks near the city of Nabatiyeh.
“Some of the children were scared and there was panic, the teachers were also frightened,” he told AFP.
The raids come a day after an Israeli strike killed a commander from Palestinian militant group Hamas in the southern city of Sidon.
Under the ceasefire agreement, Hezbollah was to pull back its fighters north of Lebanon’s Litani River, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border.
Israel was to pull all its forces from Lebanon, but it has kept troops in five areas that it deems “strategic.”
The Lebanese army has been deploying in the area as the Israeli army has withdrawn and has been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure there.
President Joseph Aoun said late last month that the Lebanese army is now deployed in more than 85 percent of the south and that the sole obstacle to full control across the frontier area was “Israel’s occupation of five border positions.”
Lebanon has called on the international community to pressure Israel to end its attacks and withdraw all its troops.
Hezbollah, long a dominant force in Lebanon, was heavily weakened in its latest war with Israel.
Lebanese authorities have vowed to implement a state monopoly on bearing arms, though Aoun has said disarming Hezbollah is a “delicate” matter that requires dialogue.
The November truce was based on a UN Security Council resolution that says Lebanese troops and United Nations peacekeepers should be the only forces in south Lebanon, and calls for the disarmament of all non-state groups.


Israel closes 6 UN schools for Palestinians in east Jerusalem

Updated 08 May 2025
Follow

Israel closes 6 UN schools for Palestinians in east Jerusalem

  • 550 pupils aged six to 15 were present when the closure was enforced

JERUSALEM: Israel permanently closed six UN schools in east Jerusalem on Thursday, forcing Palestinian students to leave early and throwing the education of more than 800 others into question.
Last month, heavily armed Israeli police and Education Ministry officials ordered six schools in east Jerusalem to close within 30 days, which ended on Wednesday. The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, runs the six schools. UNRWA also runs schools in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which continue to operate.
The closure orders come after Israel banned UNRWA from operating on its soil earlier this year, the culmination of a long campaign against the agency that intensified following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel that ignited the war in Gaza. Israel claims that UNRWA schools teach antisemitic content and anti-Israel sentiment, which UNRWA denies.
UNRWA is the main provider of education and health care to Palestinian refugees across east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel has annexed east Jerusalem and considers the entire city its unified capital.
The Israeli Ministry of Education says it will place the students into other Jerusalem schools. But parents, teachers and administrators caution that closing the main schools in east Jerusalem will force their children to go through crowded and dangerous checkpoints daily, and some do not have the correct permits to pass through.
In a previous statement to The Associated Press, the Ministry of Education said it was closing the schools because they were operating without a license. UNRWA administrators pledged to keep the schools open for as long as possible.