Suicide bomber kills in northern Iraq
At least three people were killed and 15 wounded on Thursday when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a barber's shop popular with police in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, police and hospital sources said. The attack is the latest and a wave of bombings across the country in recent weeks which have raised fears that Iraq could slip back into secta…
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Al Qaida fighters flow into Syria
Iraq's top diplomat on Thursday said he had "solid information" that al-Qaida militants were crossing from Iraq to Syria to carry out attacks, warning of a violent spillover that could shake the Middle East. Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Baghdad had for years urged Damascus to clamp down on militant traffic as Sunni fighters headed f…
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Iraq violence grinds on
Iraqi authorities say bombs have killed four people in two cities as violence continues to surge six months after the last American troops withdrew. A provincial official says three coordinated bombs exploded within minutes Sunday morning in the central city of Tikrit, 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Baghdad. One civilian walking by died and two …
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Iraq violence surges
A half year after the U.S. military left Iraq, dire predictions seem to be coming true: The country is mired in violence and the government is on the verge of collapsing. With no relief in sight, there’s growing talk of Iraq as a failed state as al-Qaida’s local wing staged near daily attacks that killed at least 234 people in June. Iraq no longer s…
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11 killed in 2 Iraq bombings
Two bomb blasts nearly 150 kilometers apart killed 11 people Monday night, officials said, as Iraq's death toll continued to climb in the second bloodiest month since U.S. troops withdrew late last year. Officials and experts fear the surge in violence may signal Iraq's potential descent into a failed state, despite its oil wealth, billions …
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Montague and Capulet as Shiite and Sunni
It is not poison or a dagger that takes the lives of the young lovers, but a suicide bomb. The Montagues and Capulets are divided not just by family, but also by religious sect. And the dialogue in the Iraqi adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet” is sprinkled with references to Blackwater, Iranians and the American reconstruction effort. After a recent per…
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Iraq cuts anti-Qaeda militia pay
Most of Iraq's remaining 40,000 anti-Qaeda militiamen have seen their pay cut by 20 percent this year following a decision by parliament, an aide to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told AFP on Tuesday. "I have been obliged to reduce by 20 percent the wages of Sahwa (Awakening) members who earn more than 200,000 dinars ($158/120 euros) a month…
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Syria’s forgotten refugees
It was 21 February 2006. The date is etched in Samia’s* mind. She was in her kitchen making tea for her brother’s family, who was visiting her at her home in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, when gunfire broke out in the sitting room. “It was as if there was a war in my home,” she recounted. She could not move; could not breathe; could not do anything. …
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Mohammed Merah and Toulouse
Mohammed Merah, 23, was identified as the man suspected in the methodical killings of seven unarmed people in Toulouse , France, over a period of 10 days in March 2012. He died on March 22 when he jumped out a window, firing a weapon, during a raid and shootout that ended a 30-hour standoff with the police. Mr. Merah was described as a French national of…
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How Mohammed Merah took up Jihad
Mohammed Merah had plenty of stamps in his passport, according to French intelligence officials. He traveled through at least seven Middle Eastern and central Asian countries on his way to Afghanistan in 2010. It was a meandering journey that might have been a metaphor for a young man in search of a purpose and identity. But it's also clear that by the…
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Iraq war over? Not where Qaeda rules
A spruced-up Baghdad is welcoming Arab leaders this week to declare that war is over and Iraq is open for business. To Um Qassim, carrying her shopping beside a rubbish-filled creek four hours drive from the capital, it is a cruel joke. In her home city of Mosul, out of view of visiting dignitaries, al Qaeda still controls the streets and people like her s…
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