city:arbil

La route vers Mossoul | Maya Gebeily
►https://making-of.afp.com/la-route-vers-mossoul

« Il n’y a que 80 kilomètres d’Arbil, la capitale florissante de la région kurde d’Irak, jusqu’à Mossoul, la dernière cité irakienne encore aux mains du groupe de l’Etat islamique (EI) », écrit Maya Gebeily, correspondante basée à Beyrouth. « Mais comme j’en ai fait l’expérience en couvrant, deux semaines durant, l’offensive sur Mossoul, il suffit parfois d’une dizaine de kilomètres pour passer d’un univers à un autre, tout en traversant des mondes en chemin ». Source : Making-of

#ISIS seizes #Iraq's #Tikrit as US mulls drone intervention
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/isis-seizes-iraqs-tikrit-us-mulls-drone-intervention

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An Iraqi family fleeing violence in the northern Nineveh province arrives at a Kurdish checkpoint in Aski kalak, 40 kilometers West of Arbil, in the autonomous Kurdistan region, on June 11, 2014. (Photo: AFP - Safin Hamed)

Militants have seized the Iraqi city of Tikrit as a jihadi offensive sweeps closer to #Baghdad, prompting the UN Security Council to convene crisis talks Thursday while the US mulls air strikes on the rebels. The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) seized the second city of Mosul on Tuesday and has since captured a large swathe of northern and north-central Iraq including Tikrit - the hometown of executed dictator Saddam Hussein. read (...)

#ISIS tightens control of #Mosul, seizes oil refinery town
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/isis-tightens-control-mosul-seizes-oil-refinery-town

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Iraqi families fleeing violence in the northern Nineveh province gather at a Kurdish checkpoint in Aski kalak, 40 kilometers West of Arbil, in the autonomous Kurdistan region, on June 10, 2014. (Photo: AFP - Safin Hamed)

Jihadis were firmly in control of #Iraq's Mosul on Wednesday, patrolling the streets and calling for employees to return to work a day after seizing the northern city, witnesses said, as an estimated 500,000 residents fled the city. Militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) overran Mosul and a string of northern towns on Tuesday, in a major blow to the Iraqi government that the United States warned threatens the entire region. read (...)

#Baiji

Iraqi #refugees in #syria: Between a rock and a hard place
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/iraqi-refugees-syria-between-rock-and-hard-place

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A file picture taken on March 6, 2014 shows displaced Iraqis, who fled their hometown of Fallujah due to unrest between government forces and militants in the flashpoint Anbar province, west of #Baghdad, walking in the Kurdish town of Shaqlawa, 45 kilometers north of Arbil, where they sought refugee. (Photo: AFP-Safin Hamed) A file picture taken on March 6, 2014 shows displaced Iraqis, who fled their hometown of Fallujah due to unrest between government forces and militants in the flashpoint Anbar province, west of Baghdad, walking in the Kurdish town of Shaqlawa, 45 kilometers north of Arbil, where they sought refugee. (Photo: AFP-Safin Hamed)

Since 2003, the largest refugee population in the region – other than the (...)

#Culture_&_Society #Articles #Beirut #Damascus #Iraq #Jordan #Lebanon #UNHCR

Iraqi cleric #Muqtada_al-Sadr announced exit from political scene
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/iraqi-cleric-muqtada-al-sadr-announced-exit-political-scene

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A picture taken on April 26, 2012 shows Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr speaking during a press conference in the northern Iraqi Kurdish city of Arbil during a visit to #Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region. (Photo: AFP - Safin Hamed)

Powerful Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of a major political movement and a key figure in post-Saddam Iraq, has announced his exit from politics two months before elections. The decision, if confirmed as permanent, brings to a close a political career that began with his fierce opposition to the US military presence in Iraq, and has spanned more than a decade. read (...)

#Top_News

#Aleppo's #Kurds : Living Under Siege
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/aleppos-kurds-living-under-siege

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Syrian-Kurdish refugee carries water containers on a wheelbarrow at the Quru Gusik (Kawergosk) refugee camp, 20 kilometers east of Arbil, the capital of the autonomous #Kurdish region of northern Iraq, on December 29, 2013. (Photo: AFP - Safin Hamed). Syrian-Kurdish refugee carries water containers on a wheelbarrow at the Quru Gusik (Kawergosk) refugee camp, 20 kilometers east of Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, on December 29, 2013. (Photo: AFP - Safin Hamed).

The #Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_Syria has retreated from the #Ifrin region of the Aleppo countryside. Though the crippling blockade on Ifrin has been lifted, the siege remains enforced by other factions, including the Islamic (...)

#Mideast_&_North_Africa #Articles #ISIS #Kurdistan_Workers_Party #PYD #Recep_Tayyip_Erdogan #syria #turkey #YPG

#Syrian_National_Council expected to reject peace conference
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syrian-national-council-expected-reject-peace-conference

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A Syrian-Kurdish refugee man smokes a water pipe at the Quru Gusik (Kawergosk) refugee camp, 20 kilometers east of Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, on December 29, 2013. (Photo: AFP - Safin Hamed) A Syrian-Kurdish refugee man smokes a water pipe at the Quru Gusik (Kawergosk) refugee camp, 20 kilometers east of Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, on December 29, 2013. (Photo: AFP - Safin Hamed)

An influential bloc within the Western-backed Syrian opposition is expected to vote on Saturday against participating in talks aimed at ending the nearly three-year conflict, members said. The Syrian National Council has opposed attending the January 22 (...)

#Geneva_II #syria #Top_News

#Baghdad blast kills 14 outside church
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/baghdad-blast-kills-14-outside-church

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Iraqi Christians take part in Christmas celebrations at a church in the northern city of Arbil, on December 24, 2013. (Photo: AFP - Safin Hamed)

At least 14 people were killed when a car bomb exploded near a church in the Iraqi capital after a Christmas service on Wednesday, police and medics said. The blast in the Doura area of south Baghdad also wounded more than 30 people, the sources said. “The attack targeted the church, and most of the martyrs are Christians,” a police colonel told AFP. “The attack happened when worshippers were leaving the church” after a service. read (...)

#Iraq #Top_News

Washington Shakes Hands With #al-Qaeda Ally in #syria
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/washington-shakes-hands-al-qaeda-ally-syria

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Syrian-Kurdish refugee families receive aid food at the Quru Gusik (Kawergosk) refugee camp, 20 kilometers east of Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, on December 19, 2013. (Photo: AFP - Safin Hamed). Syrian-Kurdish refugee families receive aid food at the Quru Gusik (Kawergosk) refugee camp, 20 kilometers east of Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, on December 19, 2013. (Photo: AFP - Safin Hamed).

The US administration wants to meet with Syria’s #Islamic_Front. Washington is flirting with this al-Qaeda affiliate as it hurries to score extra points before Geneva II. The Islamic Front remains a winning card against Moscow, which is skeptical about the (...)

#Mideast_&_North_Africa #Al-Nusra_Front #Articles #ISIS #John_Kerry #united_states

Iraqi #Kurdistan president says willing to strike “terrorist criminals” in #syria
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/iraqi-kurdistan-president-says-willing-strike-terrorist-criminals

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President of Iraqi Kurdistan autonomous region, Massoud Barzani answers AFP’s journalists’ questions during an interview on October 12, 2013 in the northern Kurdish city of Arbil. (Photo: AFP - Safin Hamed)

Iraqi Kurdistan is prepared to strike militants anywhere, including neighboring Syria, but the Kurds must avoid being drawn into its civil war, the autonomous region’s president Massoud Barzani told AFP. Barzani’s remarks came after militants carried out a (...)

#Iraq #Top_News

#Iraq's Kurds head to the polls for parliamentary elections
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/iraqs-kurds-head-polls-parliamentary-elections

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An Iraqi Kurdish man shows his ink-stained finger after voting during the Kurdistan’s legislative election at a polling station on 21 September 2013 in the northern Kurdish city of Arbil. (Photo: AFP - Ahmad al-Rubaye)

Iraqi Kurds went to the polls on Saturday to vote for a new parliament at a time when their oil-producing region is seeking greater autonomy from Baghdad, against a backdrop of violent instability in the rest of Iraq and the wider Middle East. About (...)

#Kurd #Top_News