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Kurdistan Region-Iraq News in brief
Kurdish official : IS fortifying positions around Mosul, started digging a ditch around the city Erbil: The Islamic State group (IS) has begun fortifying its positions in and around the city of Mosul as Iraqi and Kurdish troops gear up for a major offensive to recapture the city, a senior Kurdish official in Nineveh governorate said on Monday. In comments to Asharq Al-Awsat, Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) official Saeed Mamozeini said that IS is fortifying its positions across Nineveh governorate, preparing to defend territory under its control from an expected military offensive to recapture the city of Mosul, the second largest in Iraq, which the group occupied in June. “IS has begun to dig a trench around the city. This trench is an expansion of an older trench and is part of a series of preparations being carried out by IS to confront any attack by Peshmerga or Iraqi forces,” Mamozeini said. Mamozeini, who is director of the KDP’s media bureau in Nineveh governorate, also said that Mosul residents who have not already fled the city are now trying to do so, particularly as IS is forcibly recruiting fighters from the city to aid in its “defense.” “IS is continuing to arrest civilians in Mosul and send them to the battlefronts. It demands payment of up to 1.5 million Iraqi dinars for any person who does not want to join its ranks, and those who cannot pay are imprisoned,” he said. He described the situation in Mosul under IS as being fraught, with the group carrying out harsh punishments against residents they believe to have broken Islamic Shari’a laws, including the cutting off of hands. According to some reports from last November said that the operations to liberate Mosul will take place in early 2015. aawsat.net | Ekurd.net
Kurdistan president: recapture of Mosul not Peshmerga responsibility
Erbil: Kurdish Peshmerga forces will not singlehandedly liberate Mosul because the Kurdistan Region does not want to ignite a Kurdish-Arab war, said Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani in an interview with al-Arabiya TV. Barzani told the Arabic channel that to recapture Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul, “the Peshmerga would only play a supporting role, because the Kurdistan Region doesn’t want the start of a Kurdish-Arab war.” Barzani said had it not been for the Peshmerga who deployed to Kirkuk in the summer, the province would have fallen to the Islamic State (IS) like Mosul and parts of Salahaddin and Diyala. Peshmerga forces have been battling IS along their 1050-kilometer border and have regained almost all the territory they lost to the extremist group in August. However, Kurdish leaders, including Barzani, have said that the priority is defending the Kurdish autonomous region against IS and that they are not willing to fight in Iraq’s Sunni areas. Barzani said that Iraq’s former PM Nouri al-Maliki was responsible for the quick defeat of the army in Mosul. “That army had been trained and armed by the international community for years,” said Barzani of the Iraqi army that was trained and equipped by the US at the cost of billions of dollars. See the video interview. rudaw.net | Ekurd.net
Kurdistan to sell own surplus crude independently: official
Erbil: Deputy Chief of parliament commission for national resources in Kurdistan Region stated the Kurdish region is able to export the oil it has promised to Baghdad in line the recent accord between the two sides and would export independently the leftover it has drilled. Dilshad Sha’aban told Slêmanî (Sulaimaniyah) news base that there is no article in the accord that bans the region from exporting extra crude oil it would drill. Based on the agreement between the two sides the Kurdish region should export 250000 barrels of oil per day from the region and 300000 bpd from Kirkuk oil filed under Baghdad’s supervision. kurdpress.ir | Ekurd.net
IS militants use Kurdistan flag to protect themselves from airstrikes
Erbil: Islamic State (IS) militants have been raising the Kurdish flag over their bases in order to protect themselves from coalition airstrikes, according to a Peshmerga commander on the Daquq front in Kirkuk province. The insurgents in the area are no longer in a position to defend themselves, he says. The Commander, serving on the southern front of Daquq, Talib Mustafa told Kurdish media that Peshmerga forces have almost entirely neutralised the threat of IS in the area. With each defeat, he added, the insurgents are becoming visibly powerless. “The militants raise the Kurdistan flag on their bases, fearing the US-led coalition will shell them,” said Mustafa. “IS insurgents have not only lost their power to attack, but also to defend. They no longer can defend themselves,” said one of the Peshmerga soldiers, who spoke of the pride of the Peshmerga in the way they have protected the Kurdistan Region. basnews.com
Iraqi Airways to boost fleet to 80 planes by end of 2016
Baghdad: Iraqi Airways has taken delivery of a new Boeing 737 as part of a deal Iraq has signed with the U.S. company for the purchase of 45 aircraft. The Iraqi national carrier was banned from flying from 1990-2003 due to U.N. trade sanctions imposed on Iraq for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Iraq’s deal with Boeing calls for the delivery of 45 new planes, 10 of which have already arrived in Baghdad. Under the deal, Boeing is obliged to deliver one new plane to Iraq every month until the end of 2016. If Boeing honors the contract and the purchases and acquisitions with other major aircraft manufactures like Airbus and Bombardie ribus and Bo go according to plan, Iraqi Airways fleet will be boosted to 80 planes by the end of 2016. The national carrier currently flies short and medium air routes between Iraq and its neighboring states as well as destinations in Europe and Asia. The airways fleet is diversified with planes ranging from superliners capable of carrying up to 370 passengers and capacity to fly more than 16 hours to aircraft carrying 180 passengers...azzaman.com | Ekurd.net
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Kurdish official : IS fortifying positions around Mosul, started digging a ditch around the city Erbil: The Islamic State group (IS) has begun fortifying its positions in and around the city of Mosul as Iraqi and Kurdish troops gear up for a major offensive to recapture the city, a senior Kurdish official in Nineveh governorate said on Monday. In comments to Asharq Al-Awsat, Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) official Saeed Mamozeini said that IS is fortifying its positions across Nineveh governorate, preparing to defend territory under its control from an expected military offensive to recapture the city of Mosul, the second largest in Iraq, which the group occupied in June. “IS has begun to dig a trench around the city. This trench is an expansion of an older trench and is part of a series of preparations being carried out by IS to confront any attack by Peshmerga or Iraqi forces,” Mamozeini said. Mamozeini, who is director of the KDP’s media bureau in Nineveh governorate, also said that Mosul residents who have not already fled the city are now trying to do so, particularly as IS is forcibly recruiting fighters from the city to aid in its “defense.” “IS is continuing to arrest civilians in Mosul and send them to the battlefronts. It demands payment of up to 1.5 million Iraqi dinars for any person who does not want to join its ranks, and those who cannot pay are imprisoned,” he said. He described the situation in Mosul under IS as being fraught, with the group carrying out harsh punishments against residents they believe to have broken Islamic Shari’a laws, including the cutting off of hands. According to some reports from last November said that the operations to liberate Mosul will take place in early 2015. aawsat.net | Ekurd.net
Kurdistan president: recapture of Mosul not Peshmerga responsibility
Erbil: Kurdish Peshmerga forces will not singlehandedly liberate Mosul because the Kurdistan Region does not want to ignite a Kurdish-Arab war, said Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani in an interview with al-Arabiya TV. Barzani told the Arabic channel that to recapture Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul, “the Peshmerga would only play a supporting role, because the Kurdistan Region doesn’t want the start of a Kurdish-Arab war.” Barzani said had it not been for the Peshmerga who deployed to Kirkuk in the summer, the province would have fallen to the Islamic State (IS) like Mosul and parts of Salahaddin and Diyala. Peshmerga forces have been battling IS along their 1050-kilometer border and have regained almost all the territory they lost to the extremist group in August. However, Kurdish leaders, including Barzani, have said that the priority is defending the Kurdish autonomous region against IS and that they are not willing to fight in Iraq’s Sunni areas. Barzani said that Iraq’s former PM Nouri al-Maliki was responsible for the quick defeat of the army in Mosul. “That army had been trained and armed by the international community for years,” said Barzani of the Iraqi army that was trained and equipped by the US at the cost of billions of dollars. See the video interview. rudaw.net | Ekurd.net
Kurdistan to sell own surplus crude independently: official
Erbil: Deputy Chief of parliament commission for national resources in Kurdistan Region stated the Kurdish region is able to export the oil it has promised to Baghdad in line the recent accord between the two sides and would export independently the leftover it has drilled. Dilshad Sha’aban told Slêmanî (Sulaimaniyah) news base that there is no article in the accord that bans the region from exporting extra crude oil it would drill. Based on the agreement between the two sides the Kurdish region should export 250000 barrels of oil per day from the region and 300000 bpd from Kirkuk oil filed under Baghdad’s supervision. kurdpress.ir | Ekurd.net
IS militants use Kurdistan flag to protect themselves from airstrikes
Erbil: Islamic State (IS) militants have been raising the Kurdish flag over their bases in order to protect themselves from coalition airstrikes, according to a Peshmerga commander on the Daquq front in Kirkuk province. The insurgents in the area are no longer in a position to defend themselves, he says. The Commander, serving on the southern front of Daquq, Talib Mustafa told Kurdish media that Peshmerga forces have almost entirely neutralised the threat of IS in the area. With each defeat, he added, the insurgents are becoming visibly powerless. “The militants raise the Kurdistan flag on their bases, fearing the US-led coalition will shell them,” said Mustafa. “IS insurgents have not only lost their power to attack, but also to defend. They no longer can defend themselves,” said one of the Peshmerga soldiers, who spoke of the pride of the Peshmerga in the way they have protected the Kurdistan Region. basnews.com
Iraqi Airways to boost fleet to 80 planes by end of 2016
Baghdad: Iraqi Airways has taken delivery of a new Boeing 737 as part of a deal Iraq has signed with the U.S. company for the purchase of 45 aircraft. The Iraqi national carrier was banned from flying from 1990-2003 due to U.N. trade sanctions imposed on Iraq for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Iraq’s deal with Boeing calls for the delivery of 45 new planes, 10 of which have already arrived in Baghdad. Under the deal, Boeing is obliged to deliver one new plane to Iraq every month until the end of 2016. If Boeing honors the contract and the purchases and acquisitions with other major aircraft manufactures like Airbus and Bombardie ribus and Bo go according to plan, Iraqi Airways fleet will be boosted to 80 planes by the end of 2016. The national carrier currently flies short and medium air routes between Iraq and its neighboring states as well as destinations in Europe and Asia. The airways fleet is diversified with planes ranging from superliners capable of carrying up to 370 passengers and capacity to fly more than 16 hours to aircraft carrying 180 passengers...azzaman.com | Ekurd.net
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