Salem-News.com Isis articles

ISIS, Iraqi Army Battle for Control of Tikrit

Insurgents, led by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), were reported to have shot down a helicopter and captured the pilot.

(TIKRIT, Iraq) - Aircraft have struck at rebel positions and clashes have broken out in various parts of the city, witnesses and officials have said.

Troops had reportedly pulled back to the nearby town of Dijla as Saturday's initial offensive met stiff resistance. The city of Tikrit was captured by Sunni rebels on June 11 as they swept across large parts of northern Iraq.

Militants Seize Iraqi Air Bases, Oilfields as U.S. Forces Arrive

Baghdad is racing against time as the insurgents consolidate their grip on Sunni provinces.

(BAGHDAD, Iraq) - Militants attacked one of Iraq's largest air bases and seized control of several small oilfields on Wednesday as U.S. special forces troops and intelligence analysts arrived to help Iraqi security forces counter a mounting Sunni insurgency.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is fighting for his job and is under international pressure to create a more inclusive government, said he supported starting the process of forming a new cabinet within a week.

Syrian Warplanes Kill 57 Civilians in Attack in Northern Iraq

In recent weeks, ISIS has taken over swaths of Iraq in its attempt to create an Islamic state stretching from Syria to Iraq.

(BAGHDAD, Iraq) - At least 57 Iraqi civilians were killed and more than 120 others were wounded by what local officials say were Syrian warplanes that struck several parts of Anbar province Tuesday.

Sabah Karkhout, the head of Iraq’s Anbar provincial council, told CNN that the attacks struck markets and fuel stations in areas such as Rutba, al-Walid and Qaim.

UN Says Over 1,000 Killed in Iraq in June

Abductions continue to be reported in the northern provinces and in Baghdad.

(BAGHDAD, Iraq) - More than 1,000 people, mainly civilians, have been killed and roughly the same number injured in fighting and other violence in Iraq in June as Sunni militants swept through the north, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

Victims include a number of confirmed summary executions committed by forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant -- ISIL -- and prisoners killed by retreating Iraqi forces.

Sources: Militants Capture 3 Western Iraqi Towns

On Sunday, Sunni militants led by ISIL expanded their grip to the towns of Rawa and Ana along the Euphrates River east of al-Qaim.

(ANBAR Iraq) - An al Qaeda splinter group thrust east from a newly-captured Iraqi-Syrian border post on Sunday, taking three towns in the western Anbar province in a push to evict Iraqi security forces from Sunni Muslim areas.

Militants Kill 30 Iraqi Troops; Seize Iraq-Syria Border Crossing

The capture of the Qaim border crossing deals a further blow to prime minister Nouri al-Maliki's government.

(BAGHDAD, Iraq) - Sunni militants have seized an Iraqi crossing on the border with Syria after a daylong battle in which they killed some 30 Iraqi troops, security officials said on Saturday.

Police and army officials said the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and allied militants seized the crossing near the border town of Qaim, about 200 miles west of Baghdad, after battling Iraqi troops all day Friday.

President Obama to Send 300 Troops to Iraq

The military personnel would be sent to Iraq to examine how to train and equip Iraqi forces.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Firmly ruling out the possibility of American boots on the ground in Iraq in the face of escalating sectarian violence there, U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Thursday that he would nevertheless be sending 300 “military advisers” to Baghdad.

The President explained that the military personnel would be sent to Iraq to examine how to train and equip Iraqi forces, and this would come on the heels of Washington’s steps to increase its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations to better understand the threats to Baghdad.

Yet Obama appeared determined to hold firm to the view that U.S. combat troops would not return to Iraq as that could not resolve the core issues the country is currently facing.

U.S. Starting to Fly Missions Over Iraq

Republican Senator John McCain, speaking in the Senate, called for the use of American air power, but also urged Obama to "make it make very clear to Maliki that his time is up."

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - President Barack Obama came under pressure from U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday to persuade Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to step down over what they see as failed leadership in the face of an insurgency threatening his country.

As Obama held an hour-long meeting with congressional leaders on U.S. options in Iraq, administration officials joined a chorus of criticism of Maliki, faulting him for failing to heal sectarian rifts that militants have exploited.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Maliki had not done enough "to govern inclusively and that has contributed to the situation and the crisis that we have today in Iraq."

Iraq on The Brink of Bloody Civil War; No Word Yet on U.S. Airstrikes

Any push by the ISIS south towards Baghdad, however, is likely to face significant resistance as it has a much larger Shia population.

(BAGHDAD, Iraq) - Leading Shi’ite cleric Grand ­Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called on Iraqis to take up arms against Sunni extremists as thousands volunteered to bolster the capital’s defenses.

The deteriorating situation in the key global oil supplier reverberated through financial markets yesterday, sending oil prices sharply higher, pushing US stocks lower and igniting the latest rally in safe-haven bonds.