region:central iraq

Amid Syrian chaos, Iran’s game plan emerges: a path to the Mediterranean | World news | The Guardian
▻https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/08/iran-iraq-syria-isis-land-corridor

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The plan has been coordinated by senior government and security officials in Tehran, Baghdad and Damascus, all of whom defer to the head of the spearhead of Iran’s foreign policy, the Quds force of the Revolutionary Guards, headed by Major General Qassem Suleimani, who has run Iran’s wars in Syria and Iraq. It involves demographic shifts, which have already taken place in central Iraq and are under way in northern Syria. And it relies heavily on the support of a range of allies, who are not necessarily aware of the entirety of the project but have a developed vested interest in securing separate legs.

#Iran #Syria

#Scenarios: Humanitarian Implications of #Violence in Northern and Central #Iraq

Scenarios are a description of situations that could occur; a set of informed assumptions about a development that may require humanitarian action to support strategic planning, create awareness, provide early warning and promote preparedness activities for those working on the Iraq crisis. The document covers five main scenarios for Iraq, a sub-scenario as well as a wildcard scenario for the next six months. Note that these scenarios are in no way logically and mutually exclusive and indeed, all of them could also take place in sequence or even in parallel.

▻http://reliefweb.int/report/iraq/scenarios-humanitarian-implications-violence-northern-and-central-iraq

#Irak

#Iraq prepares for offensive against jihadi-held #Tikrit
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/iraq-prepares-offensive-against-jihadi-held-tikrit

Armed American drones were flying over Baghdad as Iraqi forces readied a massive operation Saturday to take back Saddam Hussein’s hometown from jihadi militants. Thousands of soldiers were advancing on Tikrit, which was overrun by insurgents led by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) more than two weeks ago along with a swathe of northern and north-central Iraq. read more

Suicide bombings, shooting, kill 16 in #Iraq
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/suicide-bombings-shooting-kill-16-iraq

Attacks in central Iraq, including two suicide car bombings aimed at checkpoints, killed 16 people on Monday, security and medical officials said. The latest #violence came as Iraq suffers a protracted surge in bloodshed that has killed more than 2,700 people so far this year. In the deadliest attack, a suicide bomber detonated a vehicle rigged with explosives at a police checkpoint in the Suweirah area, south of Baghdad, killing 13 people and wounding 35, an officer and a medical source said. read more

#suicide_bombing #Top_News

Death toll from single #Iraq #suicide_bombing reaches 50
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/death-toll-single-iraq-suicide-bombing-reaches-50

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/4cols/leading_images/394831-01-08.jpg

Iraqi mourners carry the body of victim killed today in a suicide bombing at a checkpoint near Baghdad during a funeral procession on March 9, 2014 in the shrine city of Najaf, in central Iraq. (Photo: AFP - Haidar Hamdani) Iraqi mourners carry the body of victim killed today in a suicide bombing at a checkpoint near Baghdad during a funeral procession on March 9, 2014 in the shrine city of Najaf, in central Iraq. (Photo: AFP - Haidar Hamdani)

A suicide bombing at a crowded checkpoint south of the Iraqi capital killed 50 people and wounded more than 150, police and a doctor said Monday, raising the toll from the day before. The bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle during rush hour on Sunday, the first day of the (...)

#Top_News

Deadly blasts kill 49 in #Iraq
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/deadly-blasts-kill-49-iraq

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/4cols/leading_images/249319-01-08.jpg

An Iraqi girl stands near debris in the aftermath of an explosion in the Ur district in eastern Baghdad, on February 18, 2014. (Photo: AFP - Ahmad al-Rubaye)

Ten car bombs in central Iraq, including five in Baghdad, killed at least 49 people Tuesday, officials said, after another series of blasts the day before. Iraqi authorities have so far failed to curb a year-long surge in violence plaguing the country, despite carrying out wide-ranging operations against militants. The blasts in the Iraqi capital hit four different areas, killing at least 10 people and wounding at least 30. read (...)

#Top_News

Child among six killed in central #Iraq #shelling
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/boy-among-six-killed-central-iraq-shelling

Shelling against a village in a restive area of central Iraq killed six people on Saturday, including a young boy, the latest in a surge of nationwide #violence. The bloodshed, coupled with a protracted standoff between security forces and anti-government forces in Anbar province west of Baghdad, has left nearly 800 people dead so far this month and comes with elections looming in April. The mortar fire struck Jaizan, a village just north of Baquba, killing six people and wounding two others, security and medical officials said. Among the fatalities were two women and a young boy. read more

#Top_News