tom-little-iraq

[tom-little-iraq]

IS destroys iconic Mosul minaret as Iraqi forces advance

AFP News, June 22, 2017

Mosul's trademark leaning minaret was missing from its skyline for the first time in centuries Thursday after desperate jihadists blew it up as Iraqi forces advanced on an ancient mosque compound in the embattled northern city.

Explosions on Wednesday evening levelled both the Nuri mosque where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi gave his first sermon as leader of the Islamic State group and its ancient leaning minaret, known as the "Hadba" (Hunchback).

Officials from Iraq and the US-led anti-IS coalition said the destruction of the site was a sign of the jihadist group's imminent loss of Mosul, with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi calling it an "official declaration of defeat".

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[tom-little-iraq]

Deep in Mosul, US forces support Iraq's fight

AFP News, June 21, 2017

Mosul (Iraq) (AFP) - In a once-plush house in west Mosul, a handful of US soldiers watch on as an Iraqi commander barks orders over the radio to his troops fighting jihadists little more than a mile away.

Senior Iraqi officers huddle around a map showing their forces' advance against the Islamic State group in Mosul's Old City, as walkie-talkies crackle with strained voices giving the latest news from the front.

The US officers step in occasionally to comment on the tense back-and-froths.

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[tom-little-iraq]

Sunnis feel victimised as Iraq goes to polls

Your Middle East, April 30, 2014

Since soldiers arrested and beat Abu Noor, his son and nephew at their modest house in Baghdad's Adhamiyah neighbourhood, he and his wife have been too scared to leave home.

"I feel sick when I talk about this... I only go to work and I come back," said the 54-year-old, who was too scared to give his real name, remembering the night six months ago when the soldiers arrived.

Like Abu Noor and his wife, many Sunni Arabs complain they are discriminated against by the government of Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is running for a third term in a parliamentary election on Wednesday.

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[tom-little-iraq]

Iraq attacks kill 57 as security forces vote

Digital Journal, April 28, 2014

Attacks including a spate of suicide bombings killed 57 people on Monday as soldiers and policemen cast their votes in Iraq's first parliamentary election since US troops withdrew.

The bombings in Baghdad and the north and west raise serious concerns about the security forces' ability to protect ordinary voters on polling day on Wednesday, when more than 20 million are eligible to take part.

They come amid a protracted surge in violence and fears the country is edging towards all-out conflict.

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