Defence secretary critical of US bid to help Iraq fight Islamic State

Iraqi officials say they believe government forces have killed the last remaining Saddam Hussein henchman on the run in Iraq.

Islamic State militants are selling abducted Iraqi children at markets as sex slaves, and killing other youths, including by crucifixion or burying them alive, a UN watchdog said.

Iraqi officials said yesterday that an airstrike wounded the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Pentagon officials said they had no immediate information on such a strike or al-Baghdadi being wounded.

Australia’s Parliament House lifted a short-lived ban on facial coverings including burqas and niqabs after the prime minister intervened.

A triple suicide bombing has killed 26 members of Kurdish security forces north east of Baghdad while a roadside bomb killed the police chief of the western Anbar province.

President Barack Obama acknowledged that US intelligence agencies underestimated the threat from Islamic State militants and overestimated the ability and will of Iraq’s army to fight.

President Barack Obama has acknowledged that US intelligence agencies underestimated the threat from Islamic State militants and overestimated the ability and will of Iraq’s army to fight.

The United States has taken the first step in its expanded fight against Islamic State (IS) militants, going to the aid of Iraqi security forces near Baghdad who were being attacked by enemy fighters.

Obama is allowing himself to be drawn back into Iraq mostly because he doesn’t know what else to do, says Andrew J Bacevich

The United States said it had created a "core coalition" to battle Islamic State militants in Iraq, calling for broad support from allies and partners around the world but ruling out committing ground forces.

Aid has begun to flow to a small northern Shiite town in Iraq, a day after security forces backed by Iran-allied Shiite militias and US airstrikes broke a two-month siege by Sunni militants.

Another 130 US troops have arrived in Iraq on what the Pentagon described as a temporary mission to assess the scope of the humanitarian crisis facing thousands of displaced civilians trapped on Sinjar Mountain.

Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric yesterday stepped up the pressure on politicians to agree on Iraq’s next prime minister, after incumbent Nouri al-Maliki lost the confidence of former allies in the fight against Sunni militants.

A new wave of bombings has caused carnage in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, killing at least 20 people.

A wave of car bombs in Baghdad has killed 32 people and wounded dozens, the latest attacks in a months-long surge in violence.

Margaret Hassan’s family refuse to give up their quest to find her killers, writes Caroline O’Doherty

A rapid series of attacks spread over a wide area of Iraq killed at least 55 people today, targeting mostly security forces in what appeared to be another strike by al-Qaida militants.

Iraqi security forces today battled gunmen who detonated a car bomb before blasting their way into a government compound and killing seven policemen.

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has arrived in Baghdad today to formally end the nearly nine-year war in Iraq.

Twenty-one people were killed and nearly 100 others injured today when five bombs struck Shiite pilgrims during an important religious ritual for the Muslim sect.

Iraqi Security forces have stormed a police station taken over by gunmen, leaving three hostages dead.

A bomb targeting worshippers attending Friday prayers at a Sunni mosque north of Baghdad has killed 16 people and wounded dozens more, the top medical official in the province said.

Former Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz was sentenced to death today for persecuting Shiite political parties during Saddam Hussein’s regime.

Militants detonated a car bomb at a Baghdad military headquarters today and then tried to shoot their way into the building, killing eight people and wounding 29 in a brazen morning attack, Iraqi officials said.

As US vice president Joe Biden prepared to preside over the formal end to American combat operations in Iraq today few there were cheering the exit.

A string of attacks targeting Iraqi security forces killed 13 people and left scores of others injured today, officials said.

A suicide bomber blew himself up among dozens of Iraqi army recruits in Baghdad today in a devastating strike that officials said killed 51 people and wounded 119.

AN Iraqi general has called into question whether his troops are ready to defend the country against a stubborn insurgency and external threats.

TWO suicide car bombers struck a crowded area outside a state-run bank yesterday in Baghdad, killing nearly 30 people in the latest attack targeting a high-profile part of the capital.

Twin car bombs exploded today near a major square in Baghdad, killing at least 18 people and wounding dozens in the latest attack targeting a high-profile area in the capital.

An al-Qaida militant suspected of planning an attack targeting the World Cup in South Africa next month has been detained by Iraqi security forces.

Dozens of people were killed today when two car bombs and a suicide bomber struck outside a textile factory.

Bombings and drive-by shootings killed at least 25 people and wounded dozens more today around Iraq.

Weeping and wailing Shiites today buried the last of dozens of bombing victims killed while praying, and their leaders called for a three-day mourning period after the deadliest day in Iraq this year.

Iraqi security forces have disrupted a 9/11-style plot by al-Qaida in Iraq to fly hijacked planes into Shiite religious shrines, Iraqi and US officials said.

Three Iraqi suicide bombers killed at least 30 people in a series of co-ordinated attacks in the city of Baqouba today.

At least six people have been killed today by a series of bomb blasts targeting Shiite pilgrims in Iraq, hospital officials said.

Four students are among the dead after an explosion in Baghdad today.

IRAQI security forces conducted searches at checkpoints in the capital yesterday as authorities investigated the security failure that allowed two truck bombs to strike what was one of Baghdad’s safest areas and kill 155 people.

A series of bombings killed at least 19 people and wounded 60 today in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, said police and hospital officials, a worrying sign that violence may be on the rise in this former hotbed of the insurgency.

The Iraqi capital Baghdad was hit by a series of explosions today killing at least a dozen people and wounding more than 100.

A booby-trapped motorcycle exploded in a crowded bazaar today in Baghdad, killing at least 19 people, Iraqi officials said, part of an apparent trend toward increased use of motorcycles to thwart stepped up security measures.

The US commander in Iraq says Americans remain “absolutely committed” to withdrawing all combat troops from urban areas by the end of the month.