Page 4 - Iraq

Indian tea exporters tackle West Asia market loss, gain ground in Iraq

'Aggressive promotion' helps companies to regain business share in nation

US strikes 3 facilities in Iraq after attack on forces, says Lloyd Austin

The US military struck three facilities in Iraq on Tuesday, targeting an Iranian-backed militia in retaliation for missile and drone attacks on American troops in Iraq and Syria over the past several days, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said. The US strikes hit militia facilities in western Iraq, near the Syrian border, US Central Command said. At President Biden's direction, US military forces conducted necessary and proportionate strikes on three facilities used by the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia group and other Iran-affiliated groups in Iraq, Austin said in a statement. These precision strikes are in direct response to a series of escalatory attacks against US and Coalition personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-sponsored militias. The strikes came hours after the US said militants fired two one-way attack drones at the al-Asad Air Base, injuring US service members and damaging infrastructure. And they follow the militia's most serious attack this year on the air base

Iran-backed militants launch attack on US airbase in Iraq, several injured

Earlier on Saturday, the US conducted airstrikes against a Houthi anti-ship missile that was aimed into the Gulf of Aden and was prepared to launch, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said

Iran strikes targets in northern Iraq and Syria as tensions escalate

Iran announced late on Monday that it had launched strikes against a "spy headquarters and the gathering of anti-Iranian terrorist groups" shortly after missiles hit an upscale area near the US consulate in Irbil, the seat of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region. The security council of the Kurdish regional government said in a statement that four civilians were killed and six injured in the strikes. Peshraw Dizayi, a prominent local businessman, was killed in one of the strikes along with members of his family, according to a post on X, by former Iraqi member of parliament Mashan al-Jabouri, who said that one of the missiles had fallen on Dizayi's "palace, next to my house, which is under construction on the road to the Salah al-Din resort". Soon after, a statement from Iran's Revolutionary Guards on state media said it had struck "terrorist operations" including Islamic State targets in Syria "and destroyed them by firing a number of ballistic missiles". Another statement claimed

Iraq prepares to close down US-led coalition's mission, says report

Sudani's statement came a day after a US strike killed a militia leader in Baghdad, prompting anger among Iran-aligned groups which demanded the government end the presence of the coalition in Iraq

US orders strikes on Iran-backed group after attack on its troops in Iraq

President Joe Biden ordered the United States military to carry out retaliatory airstrikes against Iranian-backed militia groups after three US service members were injured in a drone attack in northern Iraq. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said one of the US troops suffered critical injuries in the attack that occurred earlier Monday. The Iranian-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups, under an umbrella of Iranian-backed militants, claimed credit for the attack that utilized a one-way attack drone. Iraqi officials said US strikes targeting militia sites early Tuesday killed one militant and injured 18. They came at a time of heightened fears of a regional spillover of the Israel-Hamas war. Iran announced Monday that an Israeli strike on the outskirts of the Syrian capital of Damascus killed one of its top generals, Razi Mousavi, who had been a close companion of Gen Qassem Soleimani, the former head of Iran's elite Quds Force. Soleimani was sla

12 Turkish soldiers killed over 2 days in clashes with Kurdish militants

Six Turkish soldiers were killed on Saturday in clashes with Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, a day after another six were also killed. The six soldiers slain on Saturday died in a firefight when militants attempted to infiltrate a Turkish base, according to a statement by the Turkish Defense Ministry. The statement said 13 militants had been neutralized. In addition to the six Turkish soldiers killed on Friday, four militants were slain, authorities said. Turkey conducts operations and airstrikes against targets in Syria and Iraq that it believes to be affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, a banned Kurdish separatist group that has waged an insurgency against Turkey since the 1980s. Ankara maintains that PKK has sanctuaries in northern Iraq, where its leadership is also purportedly based. The PKK is considered a terror organisation by the United States and the European Union. Tens of thousands of people have died since the start of the conflict in 1984.

US fighter aircraft strike Hezbollah targets in Iraq after attacks on bases

US fighter aircraft struck two Hezbollah operations centers in Iraq in response to attacks on US bases that have escalated alongside Israel's operations against Hamas in Gaza, two defense officials said. They said attacks on U.S. bases included the first use of a short-range ballistic missile against U.S. troops, which happened Tuesday. The U.S. fighter jets struck Kataib Hezbollah operations center and a Kataib Hezbollah Command and Control node near Al Anbar and Jurf al Saqr, south of Baghdad, on Tuesday, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to provide additional sensitive details of the attacks. There were Kataib Hezbollah personnel at both sites at the time of the strikes but the officials said they could not yet confirm whether anyone there was killed. The U.S. strike followed another immediate, unplanned retaliatory strike by an AC-130 gunship that was in the air when the Iranian-backed militants fired two short-range ballistic missiles at Al-Asad Air Base in

US extends sanctions waiver allowing Iraq to buy electricity from Iran

The Biden administration has extended by four months a sanctions waiver that will allow Iraq to continue to purchase electricity from Iran and give Iran limited access to the proceeds to buy humanitarian goods. Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed the 120-day waiver extension and it was transmitted to Congress on Tuesday, US officials said. The move is likely to draw criticism from Iran hawks on Capitol Hill and elsewhere who believe the extension will reward Iran at a time when it is coming under increasing pressure to end its support for proxy groups, including Hamas, that are destabilising the Middle East. There is roughly USD 10 billion in Iraqi payments for Iranian electricity currently being held in escrow accounts in Iraq, and the waiver will allow Baghdad to maintain its energy imports without fear of US penalties for violating sanctions on Iran. It will also keep in place a provision included in the last 120-day waiver under which portions of the electricity proceeds

Lupin, Amman Pharma collaborates for exclusive marketing of Ranibizumab

Lupin Limited has partnered with pharmaceutical manufacturer Amman Pharmaceuticals Industries for exclusive marketing and commercialisation of Ranibizumab in the West Asian region

Dispute between Iraqi military and Kurdish Peshmerga turns deadly, 3 killed

The Iraqi military and Kurdish Peshmerga forces briefly clashed Sunday in a dispute over control of a strategic military post, killing three, Iraq's military spokesperson said. The dispute was over who controls three vacated posts previously in the hands of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants. It marked further tension in a fragile alliance between the Iraqi military and Kurdish Peshmerga forces of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region inside federal Iraq. Iraqi military spokesman Yahya Rasool did not specify the identities of the three killed, adding that seven others in the dispute were wounded. On Thursday, the PKK announced they were vacating the positions, citing what they said was the declining threat of the extremist Islamic State group in the area. They had held the military position since 2014, during the global war on the group. Turkiye often launches strikes against targets in Syria and Iraq that it believes to be affiliated with the PKK, a Kurdish separatist group that

Troops hurt after three drones attack US bases in Iraq as tensions flare

Coalition forces were slightly injured in Iraq in a spate of drone attacks over the last 24 hours at US bases in Iraq as regional tensions flare following the deadly bombing of a hospital in Gaza. Two drones targeted a base in western Iraq used by US forces and one drone targeted a base in northern Iraq. US forces intercepted all three, destroying two but only damaging the third, which led to minor injuries among coalition forces at the western base, according to a statement Wednesday by U.S. Central Command. In this moment of heightened alert, we are vigilantly monitoring the situation in Iraq and the region. US forces will defend US and coalition forces against any threat, Central Command said in the release. Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have threatened to attack US facilities there because of American support for Israel. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iranian-backed militias, issued a statement afterward claiming responsibility for the two attacks and ..

Two drone attacks on base hosting US troops intercepted in western Iraq

Two drones launched at a base hosting US troops in western Iraq were intercepted Wednesday, a US defence official said. Hours later, an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq announced it had launched another drone attack on a second base. No injuries were reported in either incident. The salvos came at a time of increasing tension and fears of a broader regional conflict in the wake of the latest Hamas-Israel war. Since the beginning of the war on October 7, much attention has been focused on Hezbollah, the powerful Hamas ally across Israel's northern border in Lebanon, and its formidable arsenal. The group has traded so-far limited strikes with Israel on the border in recent days. But Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have also threatened to attack US facilities over American support for Israel. Our missiles, drones, and special forces are ready to direct qualitative strikes at the American enemy in its bases and disrupt its interests if it intervenes in this battle, Ahmad Abu Hussein .

India confident of continuing discounts on Iraqi and Saudi crude oil

Share of imports from traditional middle eastern share has crept up even as Russian oil dominates

Turkey strikes Kurdish militants in Iraq after warning for Ankara bombing

Turkish warplanes launched a new round of airstrikes against Kurdish militant targets in Iraq on Wednesday hours after the foreign minister warned that Turkiye would hit the militant group's positions in Syria and Iraq in retaliation for a suicide bombing in Ankara earlier this week. The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack outside the Interior Ministry in Ankara in which one attacker blew himself up and another would-be bomber was killed in a shootout with police. Two police were wounded in the attack. The Turkish jets targeted 22 suspected PKK positions in northern Iraq on Wednesday, destroying caves, shelters, and depots used by the militants, the Turkish defence ministry said. The PKK maintains bases in the region, where its leadership has a foothold. It was the Turkish air force's third airstrike against suspected Kurdish militant sites in northern Iraq following the attack, which came as parliament prepared to reopen after a lon

India imports of Russian, Iraqi oil rebound in Sept after hitting 7-mth low

India imported about 1.55 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian oil in September, 16% more than in August, while imports from Iraq increased by 17% to about 1.1 million bpd, LSEG data showed

Fire at wedding hall in northern Iraq kills at least 100, injures 150

A fire at a wedding hall in northern Iraq killed at least 100 people and injured 150 others, authorities said Wednesday. The fire happened in Iraq's Nineveh province in its Hamdaniya area, they said. That's just outside of the northern city of Mosul, some 335 kilometres northwest of the capital, Baghdad. There was no immediate word on the cause of the blaze. Television footage showed charred debris inside of the wedding hall as an man shouted at firefighters. Health authorities gave the casualty figure via the state-run Iraqi News Agency.

India's crude oil imports from Russia down 24% MoM, lowest in 7 months

Indian refiners also cut shipments from Iraq, another top supplier, by 10% on the month in August to 848,000 barrels a day

India likely to discuss crude oil discounts with Iraq and UAE soon

Refiners seek fixed commitment from middle-eastern suppliers akin to Russia

IS claims responsibility for attack that killed 20 Syrian soldiers

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an ambush in eastern Syria that killed at least 20 government soldiers and wounded others, warning that such attacks will continue. IS sleeper cells still carry deadly attacks despite their defeat in Syria in 2019. The group once controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq where they declared a caliphate in 2014. The Friday night statement said IS fighters ambushed two army trucks in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour using different kinds of weapons. IS claimed that 40 members of the Syrian military were killed and 10 were wounded. Syrian opposition activists said the Thursday night attack on a bus carrying soldiers near the town of Mayadeen killed at least 20 soldiers and wounded others. State media said several soldiers were killed and wounded, without giving a breakdown. Let the whole world know that our allegiance to our leaders is practiced with deeds and not words and our Jihad is going on until Doomsday, IS said. Last w