Iraq

Representatives of the Islamic State jihadist group confirmed Thursday that they organized twin suicide bombings in Baghdad, Iraq, that day that left 32 dead and over 100 injured.

Zeinab Soleimani, daughter of late Iranian terrorist Qasem Soleimani, threatened former President Donald Trump via Twitter on Wednesday following his departure from the White House, writing that he will “live in fear of foes” indefinitely.

Pope Francis sent a telegram to Iraqi President Barham Salih Thursday offering condolences and prayers for victims of twin suicide bombings that claimed the lives of at least 35 people.

Twin suicide bombers blew themselves up in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad Thursday morning, killing at least 28 and leaving scores injured, some of them critically.

Twin suicide bombings hit Iraq’s capital Thursday, killing at least six people and wounding at least 25 others, police and state TV said.

Kurdish news service Rudaw reported Tuesday that residents of Mosul are still waiting for the corpses of the Islamic State’s victims to be cleared from the streets. The city was liberated from ISIS control four years ago.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence used a series of meetings with troops over the weekend to declare his pride that America entered no new wars during President Donald Trump’s administration.

Miller announced on Friday that United States troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan have now reached 2,500 in each country.

A new poll set to be released Thursday shows that two-thirds of American veterans and a majority of military families support ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and bringing all U.S. troops home.

Anti-government protests in the southern city of Nasiriyah, Iraq, left one police officer and two demonstrators dead on Sunday, the Iraqi Army said.

A judge in a Baghdad investigative court on Thursday issued an arrest warrant for President Donald Trump for ordering the January 2020 airstrike that killed Iranian terrorist Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

CBS News revealed on Tuesday audio of a message broadcast through radio frequencies used by pilots and air traffic control professionals in the United States warning of an attack on the U.S. Capitol, allegedly to avenge Iranian terrorist Qasem Soleimani.

Militias in the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) organized a “million person march” in Baghdad on Sunday to honor Major General Qasem Soleimani, Iran’s top terrorist mastermind, killed by an American airstrike a year ago that day.

United Nations human rights experts on Wednesday denounced President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon four American men convicted of killing Iraqi civilians while working as contractors in 2007 as a violation of international law.

Iraqi state media warned of a major energy crisis Tuesday due to reduced exports of natural gas from Iran.

Gang members and militia fighters associated with a coalition linked to Iran have escalated attacks on liquor stories — most owned by Christians and Yazidis — in Baghdad, Iraq, the Kurdish outlet Rudaw reported Sunday.

Iraqi Archbishop Bashar Warda has underscored the “immense” historic importance of Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to Iraq, as Christians’ survival in the country hangs in the balance.

Pope Francis urged the international community to assist Christians forced out of the Middle East as they attempt to return home.

The archbishop of Mosul, Iraq, has expressed his people’s joy over the announcement of a March visit by Pope Francis, the first of its kind by any pontiff.

The Vatican announced Monday that Pope Francis will make a three-day visit to Iraq in March as a show of support for the nation’s beleaguered Christian community.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has never made a secret of his ambition to become a historic regional leader. His nostalgia for the Ottoman Empire long ago became a source of concern for observers who think he might seriously attempt to bring it back. His detractors mock him as “Sultan Erdogan,” but he might not find that name insulting. Erdogan flexed his military muscle in several recent conflicts. He might be warming up for something bigger, or he may have already overtaxed Turkey’s military strength.

A spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State said on Tuesday that some 10,000 members of ISIS are still lurking in Iraq and Syria. With its numbers vastly diminished from their peak of over 40,000 fighters, ISIS has transitioned to an insurgency instead of a conquering army, but it remains a dangerous threat.

Mattis prompted a backlash from conservatives after he calling to eliminate “America First” from the nation’s national security strategy.

President Donald Trump disparaged his former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Tuesday after he voiced his opposition to the president’s foreign policy.

A conditional ceasefire suspending attacks on U.S. interests in Iraq has ended, the leader of an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia group declared on Thursday.

Refugees from northern Iraq’s Nineveh province said in interviews this week they regret returning home, as their villages still have no basic services six years after an invasion by the Islamic State terror group forced them to flee the area.

Trump won applause from populist conservatives and Democrats but criticism from hawks and adherents of establishment foreign policy.

Iraqi authorities on Monday hanged 21 men convicted of terrorism at the country’s Nasiriyah prison, Iraq’s Interior Ministry confirmed in a statement.

Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller announced a U.S. troop withdrawal down to 2,500 in Afghanistan and Iraq, consistent with President Trump’s promises to bring U.S. troops home and in furtherance of his goal to end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Iraqi migrant found guilty of murdering and beheading Swedish teen Wilma Andersson has launched an appeal over his conviction to Sweden’s supreme court.