Islamic State Still a Threat in Iraq, U.S. Ambassador Says
The Islamic State still poses a threat in Iraq, and the U.S.-led military coalition’s work with Iraq to fully defeat the group is not done, according to United States Ambassador to Iraq Alina Romanowski (Reuters)
Senior Iraqi politicians, including Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, have repeatedly said that the group no longer posed a threat in Iraq and the coalition was not needed, even as its affiliates continued to carry out attacks elsewhere (The Cradle).
Turkey Says It Hit Twelve Kurdish Militants in Northern Iraq
Turkey said it had “neutralized” twelve members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq’s Metina region as part of a cross-border military campaign that it has warned could expand in coming months (Jerusalem Post).
Iraq Open to Turkey’s Proposed Anti-PKK Joint Ops Center, Says Turkish Official
Turkey proposed to set up a “joint operation center” with Iraq to fight the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and Baghdad responded “positively” in a meeting last week, a Turkish defense ministry official said (Anadolu Agency)
The official said Ankara wants the joint operation center to be included in a broader strategic document that Erdogan intends to sign during his visit to Baghdad, which is expected to occur after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends in April (Reuters).
Head of UN Team Probing Islamic State Crimes in Iraq Flags Risks of Early Shutdown
Investigations will remain incomplete and the fate of evidence gathered remains unclear as the mission approaches a September deadline to shut down; international backers had hoped the mission would continue for several years but Iraq’s government moved to close it early (Reuters)
Iraq said the mission had not properly cooperated with Iraqi authorities (Times of Israel)
Iraqi Kurdish KDP Says it will Boycott Regional Election
The ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) said it would boycott a parliamentary election in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq scheduled to be held in June in protest over a ruling issued by the federal supreme court (Reuters). The northern region’s dominant KDP said in a statement that Iraq’s federal court had violated the constitution following a ruling in February that amended the Kurdish region’s election law and eliminated minority quota seats (The New Arab). Meanwhile, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi met Iraq’s prime minister in Baghdad as part of a visit to help the country develop a peaceful nuclear program (Middle East Monitor)
Grossi said that a team of Iraqi experts would visit the agency’s headquarters in Vienna in a few days to hold meetings to “set out a road map for the Iraqi peaceful nuclear program” amid growing interest in nuclear energy in the region (Reuters).
Iraq Announces Deal with US to Reconsider Sanctions on Iraqi Banks
Iraq’s Central Bank Governor Ali al-Allaq announced an agreement with the US Treasury to reconsider sanctions imposed on Iraqi banks, the state news agency INA said (Al Arabiya)
Eight local commercial banks are currently banned from accessing the Iraqi central bank’s daily dollar auction, a main source of hard currency in the import-dependent country that has become a focal point of a US crackdown on currency smuggling to neighboring Iran (The New Arab).
Iraq Bans PKK Amid Push for Turkey Business Ties
Iraq’s National Security Council banned the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been fighting an armed insurgency against Turkey for decades to establish an autonomous region in Turkey’s largely Kurdish southeast (Al-Monitor)
Senior officials from the two countries met in Baghdad yesterday and announced plans to increase business ties and military operations against the Kurdish group (Bloomberg)
Meanwhile, senior Turkish and Iraqi officials held high-level talks in Baghdad to discuss security issues, including potential measures against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Iraq, an Iraqi foreign ministry statement said after the meeting (Reuters)
Ties between the neighbors have been unstable in recent years as Ankara has ramped up cross-border operations against Kurdish PKK militants based in northern Iraq’s mountainous regions (Middle East Monitor).
Talks Over Drawdown of U.S.-Led Mission May Extend Past U.S. Presidential Election
Baghdad called for the wind down of the U.S.-led military mission in Iraq after clashes between U.S. and Iran-backed groups in Iraq, but different factions within Iraq’s government are divided on moving forward with the change (Reuters)
Two Civilians Killed in Turkish Air Strike in Northern Iraq
Two civilians were killed in a Turkish air strike in the mountainous Sheladiz area of northern Iraq’s Duhok province, two Iraqi security sources said (I24 News). Turkey’s defense ministry said its forces carried out two air strikes in northern Iraq and northern Syria overnight, killing six militants in Iraq and seven in Syria (Reuters).
Islamic State Attack Kills One Iraqi Soldier North of Baghdad
A roadside bomb exploded near an Iraqi army patrol in the town of Tarmiya (fifteen miles north of Baghdad), killing one soldier and wounding four others, the defense ministry said in a statement (Reuters).
U.S. Launches Retaliatory Strike on Kata’ib Hezbollah Commander in Baghdad
U.S. Central Command said the leader was responsible for attacks on U.S. forces in the region (CNN)
UN Envoy in Iraq Announces Resignation
Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaer, who serves as the head of the United Nations political mission in Iraq, told the Security Council she would step down in May and warned the country was “on a knife edge” (Reuters)
Iran-Backed Iraqi Militia Claims Responsibility For Attack on Syria Base
The attack on a Syrian base killed six U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters (CBS)
Despite the recent attacks between U.S. and Iranian-backed forces, the United States “will not escalate the conflict,” an unnamed senior State Department official told reporters traveling with Blinken (WaPo)
U.S. Carries Out Retaliatory Strikes on Iran-Backed Groups in Iraq
U.S. forces conducted dozens of air strikes on targets in Iraq in what National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan described as “the beginning of our response” to the killing of U.S. troops in Jordan last month (NYT)
Iraq’s government said that U.S. attacks killed at least sixteen people in Iraq (Boston Globe)
Sullivan told CNN that Iran-backed militia attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria are “distinct but related” to those on shipping in the Red Sea; while top U.S. officials “are not looking to take the United States to war,” he said, they aim to respond to the attacks “with force and clarity” (CNN)
Iran-Backed Militia in Iraq Announces Halt to Attacks on U.S. Forces
The Kataib Hezbollah group was likely responsible for the deaths of three U.S. troops in Jordan over the weekend, the Pentagon said; the militia group said it would suspend “military and security operations against the occupation forces,” suggesting that both Iran and Iraq had pressured it to do so (NYT)
A Pentagon spokesperson said in reports following the statement by Kataib Hezbollah that “actions speak louder than words” (CNN)
Kataib Hezbollah has carried out most of the attacks on U.S. outposts in Iraq and Syria since the current war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas began on October 7 (Reuters)
U.S.-Led Military Mission Beginning to Wind Down
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that talks will begin in the coming days to wind down the 2,500-troop U.S.-led military mission in Iraq and transition to a bilateral partnership; earlier this month, Iraq’s prime minister said he wanted to “put an end” to the U.S.-led coalition presence in the country following a U.S. strike on an Iran-backed militia in Baghdad (VoA)
U.S. Forces Strike Sites of Iran-Backed Militant Groups in Iraq
The U.S. strikes targeted three locations used by the militia Kataib Hezbollah and other Iran-linked groups in Iraq, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said; the attacks were prompted by strikes on U.S. and allied personnel in Iraq and Syria, he added (CNN)
Iran-Linked Militants Atack U.S. Troop Base
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for launching missiles at Ain al-Asad Air Base in Anbar province, which houses U.S. and Iraqi troops (WaPo)
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps Claims Attack in Iraqi Kurdistan
Iran said it targeted the espionage center of Israel’s intelligence agency; a U.S. State Department spokesperson called the attacks, which occurred near a U.S. Consulate, “reckless” (WaPo)
Air Force Major General Not Aware of Plans For U.S. Withdrawal
Iraq’s prime minister said last week that he would prepare a committee for such a withdrawal in the wake of a U.S. strike on a militia leader inside Iraq (Reuters)
Iraqi Government Creates Committe as International Military Coalition Presence Ends
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Defense said it killed a leader of an Iran-backed militia in Iraq in retaliation for recent attacks on U.S. personnel (Reuters)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez Meets With Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani
Sánchez also met with Spanish troops during a visit to Iraq, where a Spanish general currently commands a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) anti-extremist force; he said that Spain supports the “unity, sovereignty and stability” of Iraq (AFP)
U.S. Carries Out Retaliatory Strikes Against Iran-Backed Groups in Iraq
The U.S. military launched the strikes in response to a drone attack that injured three U.S. service members, a National Security Council spokesperson said; the series of attacks in recent days have raised concerns about the widening of the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. (NYT)
Yazidi Americans Sue French Cement Maker in U.S. Court, Saying It Supported Self-Declared Islamic State
The lawsuit, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad, accuses French cement firm Lafarge of providing material support to the self-declared Islamic State as it conducted violence against Yazidis in their homeland in Iraq; the company pleaded guilty last year to paying groups designated as terrorists by the United States (Reuters)
Iraq’s Kataeb Hezbollah Operating Under “New Rules of Engagement”
A security official from the militia made the statement after an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, warning that more attacks will follow (Reuters)