Clashes kill 10 as Iraq’s Sadr quits politics, loyalists storm complex
Baghdad, Iraq Reuters Heavy clashes erupted in Baghdad, killing at least 10 people on Monday, after powerful Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said he would quit politics, prompting his loyalists to storm a government palace and fight with rival groups. As night fell, machine-gun fire and explosions rang out, with tracer fire rising into the sky […]
Despite public anger, no progress in Iraq political deadlock
Baghdad, IraqAP Iraq’s top judicial body said Sunday it doesn’t have the authority to dissolve the country’s parliament, days after an influential Shi’ite cleric gave it one week to dismiss the legislature so that new elections can be held. The decision by the Supreme Judicial Council is likely to increase tensions between followers of cleric […]
Iraqi cleric calls for dissolution of parliament, early vote
Baghdad, IraqAP Influential Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr told followers Wednesday to continue their sit-in inside Iraq’s government zone, and called for the dissolution of parliament and early elections, signaling a deepening power struggle with his rivals. Speaking for the first time since thousands of his followers stormed the parliament building in Baghdad on Saturday, al-Sadr […]
Looted Gilgamesh tablet returns to Iraq in formal ceremony
Baghdad, IraqReuters Ancient artifacts looted and smuggled out of Iraq after the US invasion in 2003 were put on display in Baghdad on Tuesday. Among the artifacts returned by the United States was a 3,500-year-old clay tablet bearing part of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the ancient Sumerian tale believed to be one of the world’s […]
Iraqi PM decries “cowardly” attack on his home by drones carrying explosives
Baghdad, IraqReuters Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi escaped unharmed from an armed drone assassination attempt in Baghdad, officials said on Sunday, in an incident that raised tension in Iraq weeks after a general election disputed by Iran-backed militia groups. Kadhimi appeared in a video footage published by his office on Sunday chairing a meeting with […]
Iraq’s parliamentary vote marred by boycott, voter apathy
Baghdad, IraqAP Iraqis voted Sunday in parliamentary elections held months ahead of schedule as a concession to a youth-led popular uprising against corruption and mismanagement. But the voting was marked by widespread apathy and a boycott by many of the young activists who thronged the streets of Baghdad and Iraq’s southern provinces in late 2019. […]
Suicide attack in Iraq’s Sadr City kills at least 35, wounds dozens – sources
Baghdad, IraqReuters A suicide bomber killed at least 35 people and wounded dozens in a crowded market in the Sadr City neighbourhood of Baghdad on Monday, the eve of the Eid al-Adha festival, security and hospital sources said. More than 60 people were wounded, a police source said. People pick up debris at the site […]
Essay: Baghdad hospital fire – what happened and what it tells us about Iraq’s health system
In an article first published on The Conversation, BENJAMIN ISAKHAN, professor of international politics at Deakin University in Australia, looks at what the deadly fire at Baghdad’s Ibn al-Khatib Hospital reveals about Iraq’s heathcare system…
Enraged relatives say neglect caused deadly Baghdad hospital fire
Baghdad, IraqReuters Fire extinguishers didn’t work. Outdated medical equipment was being used. The fire alarm system in the hospital was broken. These are the accusations being levelled by witnesses, medical staff, emergency response teams and those who lost loved ones in a fire at a COVID-19 hospital in Baghdad on Saturday that killed more than […]
Fire from oxygen tank blast in Baghdad COVID-19 hospital kills 82
Baghdad, IraqReuters A fire caused by an oxygen tank explosion at a COVID-19 hospital in Baghdad took at least 82 lives and forced some people to leap through windows out of the burning building, witnesses and authorities said on Sunday. As rescuers combed the smoke-charred building, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi blamed negligence and suspended his […]