Schlagwort: Irak

Von Thomas von der Osten-Sacken [caption id="attachment_15184" align="alignleft" width="350"] Qais Al-Khazali, Anführer der schiitischen Asaib Ahl al-Haq Miliz[/caption] Vielleicht mag Barack Obama bis zum Ende seiner Amtszeit glauben, dass der Kampf gegen den IS im Nahen Osten oberste Priorität habe. Und so hat er dann eine Koalition zusammengschustert, in der…

„I have just returned from Mosul, where the coalition battle to retake this northern Iraqi city and its environs from ISIS has been under way since October. With a television crew, I passed through several neighborhoods on the eastern side of the city, reaching Al-Zohur, one of the front lines…

„If Obama had made any mistakes – such as leaving Libya, Syria, Yemen and Iraq in chaos – you wouldn’t know it from his presentation. You would certainly have no hint that the terrorism problem has gotten far worse under his watch. Recall that when he came into office Islamic…

„Young Iraqis have organized a mixed-gender cycling event in the middle of Baghdad, after a photo of a young woman on a bike went viral last week. Marina Rada had posted the picture, taken by photographer Ayman al-Amiri, on her Facebook page last Sunday, accompanied with the caption: ‚I am…

„A native of Iraq, Ashour has been in exile because of his work in the human rights sector – especially women’s rights and LGBT+ rights. He also never really hid the fact he himself was gay. He has endured it all – police arrests, government monitoring and homophobia-fuelled bashings –…

„With the complete collapse of the Syrian armed opposition expected before the end of this year, Tehran would have subdued the three Arab countries that are sandwiched between its Western border and the Mediterranean. The dream of the founder of the Islamic Republic and its first Supreme Guide Ruhollah Khomeini…

„As Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) have been closing in on Tal Afar, a town 33 miles west of Mosul, through the western Mosul axis, the organization’s top commanders have openly discussed their post-Islamic State plans to secure the border with Syria and push into the country. These senior militia…

„Yanar Mohammed runs a secret network of safe houses in her native Iraq. The women who come through its doors are honor-killing runaways, rape survivors, war widows and assorted others who have been to the cliff edge of hell and back. The shelters are meant to give them a second…

„The Islamic State has used chemical weapons, including chlorine and sulfur mustard agents, at least 52 times on the battlefield in Syria and Iraq since it swept to power in 2014, according to a new independent analysis. More than one-third of those chemical attacks have come in and around Mosul,…

Von Thomas von der Osten-Sacken Noch sind sie Alliierte im Kampf gegen den IS, die schiitischen Milizen im Irak. Nur: Von Anfang an hatten sie eine andere, eigene Agenda und erhielten sie ihre Befehle aus Teheran. Der amerikanische Präsident Barack Obama mag ja glauben, dass der Islamische Staat irgendwie der…

Von Florian Markl Glaubt man der Washington Post, dürfte Donald Trump die Entscheidung über die Besetzung eines der wichtigsten Posten seines Kabinetts getroffen haben: Michael T. Flynn, ehemaliger Chef des Militärgeheimdienstes DIA, soll neuer Nationaler Sicherheitsberater der Vereinigten Staaten werden – und damit großen Einfluss auf die Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik…

„A week after his tank division punched through Islamic State defenses on the southeast edge of Mosul, an Iraqi army colonel says the fight to drive the militants out of their urban stronghold is turning into a nightmare. Against a well-drilled, mobile and brutally effective enemy, exploiting the cover of…

„Security forces of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government have unlawfully destroyed large numbers of Arab homes, and sometimes entire villages, in areas retaken from the Islamic State, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The 80-page report, ‚Marked With An ‘X’: Iraqi Kurdish Forces’ Destruction of Villages, Homes in…

„For months prior to the offensive, Iran, and its Iraqi proxies pressured the Iraqi government to accept the militias’ role in the Mosul offensive, a move that could give them a share of victory and provide them with a pretext to justify their activities long after the defeat of ISIS.…

„The most intriguing aspect of the Mosul campaign, however, has been the differing and often opposing agendas of the various components of the attacking force.  These, with surprising rapidity, have now have come to the fore. Just two weeks into the offensive, two of its most prominent backers – the…