Turkish warplanes continue to bomb supposed Kurdish rebel strongholds in northern Iraq—despite a formal diplomatic protest by Baghdad. Meanwhile, Baghdad denied reports that missiles were fired from southern Iraq at a port in Kuwait.
The Turkish military has resumed air raids against suspected strongholds of the PKK guerillas in northern Iraq, with one air-strike killing a Kurdish family of seven in a border village.
US forces are accused of slaying a tribal sheikh and several other civilians near Tikrit—just as the Baghdad regime announced negotiations to keep US forces in Iraq past the Dec. 31 deadline established by the Status of Forces Agreement.
Rights groups protested a draft law in Iraq to ban demonstrations seen to violate the “public interest.” The law comes as opposition groups have launched a campaign of Friday protests in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square to demand the ouster of Prime Minister Maliki.
A roadside bomb killed two US soldiers July 7 at a checkpoint outside Victory Base Camp in Baghdad. The attack follows the deadliest month for US troops in Iraq in two years. June saw 15 US soldiers killed in Iraq.
Prime Minister Maliki broached keeping troops in Iraq after the Dec. 31 deadline—three days after thousands of followers of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr held a militaristic rally in Baghdad to demand complete withdrawal.
Security forces stormed the provincial council building in Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit on March 29 after an hours-long shootout with gunmen that left 41 dead and 95 wounded. The gunmen, wearing military uniforms and suicide vests, swarmed into the… Read moreIraq: 40 killed in Tikrit attack
Thousands of protesters converged on cities and towns across Iraq, streaming in on foot in defiance of vehicle bans for rallies over corruption, unemployment and poor public services.
UN Special Representative to Iraq Ad Melkert issued a statement expressing concern about reports of human rights violations during the nationwide protest campaign now underway.
Several deaths are reported after security forces fired on protesters in Mosul and Haweija, as thousands marched across Iraq in a national “day of rage.”
Thousands of protesters filled Tahrir Square in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaimaniyah, in an ongoing campaign against the entrenched political machine in the Kurdish autonomous region.
Three protesters were killed in the cities of Arbil, Dohuk and Sulaimaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan. Protests in several cities across Iraq also left more than 100 people wounded.
