DefenceTalkFighting between rival Iraqi forces raged for a second day Tuesday with rocket fire echoing from Baghdad’s Green Zone where 23 supporters of powerful Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr have been shot dead, medics said. Tensions have soared in Iraq amid a political crisis that has left the country without a new government, prime minister or […]https://www.defencetalk.com/fighting-in-iraqi-capital-leaves-23-dead-79256/

DefenceTalkChina has gained a major foothold in oil-rich Iraq, shaking up Western domination in fields from energy to construction, even as some warn that infrastructure projects could leave Baghdad in debt. After decades of conflict, Iraq is “badly in need of foreign investment, and specifically investment in energy sector infrastructure”, said John Calabrese of the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-cements-influence-in-iraq-through-oil-infrastructure-deals-79228/

DefenceTalkIran claimed responsibility for missile strikes Sunday on the northern Iraqi city of Arbil, saying they targeted an Israeli “strategic center” and warning of more attacks. Kurdish authorities insisted the Jewish state has no sites in or near Arbil, capital of their autonomous region in the country’s north. In Baghdad, the foreign ministry condemned the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/iran-says-missiles-targeted-israeli-site-in-iraqs-arbil-78404/

DefenceTalkA UN commission set up to obtain reparations from Iraq over the country’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait submitted its final report in Geneva on Wednesday after paying out $52.4 billion to the small Gulf state. Set up in 1991 by UN Security Council Resolution 692 to manage financial compensation owed by Iraq to Kuwait, the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/un-panel-wraps-up-after-iraq-pays-52-4-bn-for-kuwait-invasion-77895/

DefenceTalkIn the northern Iraqi hamlet of Hassan-Jalad, almost every family has a story to tell about a time when a child, nephew or brother was lost to wartime munitions. Located near Mosul, a former stronghold of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, the area is littered with unexploded ordnance, sometimes dubbed UXO. “We are afraid […]https://www.defencetalk.com/iraqi-wars-deadly-legacy-unexploded-ordnance-77564/

DefenceTalkThe Iraqi army said Sunday two drones were destroyed above a base housing US troops, one month after the same base was targeted by an armed drone. The US military’s C-RAM defence system was activated to shoot down the drones above the Ain al-Assad base, located in Iraq’s western desert, the Iraqi military said. Several […]

DefenceTalkAn attack using an explosives-packed drone on an airport in Arbil, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, is the latest in a series targeting Western military or diplomatic installations on Iraqi soil since late 2019, and marks an escalation of the weapons used. A US-led international coalition has been in Iraq since 2014 to help local forces […]

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkUS President Donald Trump was expected to announce further troop withdrawals Wednesday from Afghanistan and from Iraq, where several thousand US troops hunting down jihadist sleeper cells have faced increasing attacks blamed on pro-Iran factions. The deadly bomb and rocket attacks have put additional pressure on Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi, who has pledged to […]https://www.defencetalk.com/trump-to-announce-us-troop-withdrawals-from-iraq-afghanistan-76290/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkGeneva: The US drone strike that killed Iran’s top general Qasem Soleimani was “unlawful”, the United Nations expert on extrajudicial killings concluded in a report released Tuesday. Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, concluded it was an “arbitrary killing” that violated the UN charter. The US had provided no […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-killing-of-irans-top-general-unlawful-un-expert-75853/

DefenceTalkPresident Donald Trump warned Iran on Wednesday of a “heavy price” if it or its allies in Iraq attack US troops stationed there. “We don’t want hostility, but if they are hostile to us, they’re going to regret it like they’ve never regretted anything before,” he said of Iran at a White House press briefing […]https://www.defencetalk.com/trump-warns-iran-of-heavy-price-in-case-of-attack-on-us-troops-75036/