I was a guest on Jake Hanrahan’s podcast Popular Front last week to discuss low-tech ways that non-government forces are catching Islamic State group fighters on the run from their collapsed ‘caliphate’ in Syria and Iraq. Listen to the episode here:
Iraq
US energy chief in Baghdad as sanctions waiver runs out | AFP
[Published here December 11, 2018]
Baghdad (AFP) – US Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Tuesday Iraq should partner with American companies to become energy independent, as Baghdad’s waiver from US sanctions on Iran nears its expiry.
Iraq seeks power revamp to head off sanctions, protests | AFP
[Published here November 28, 2018]
Iraq’s broken electricity sector is planning a long-awaited overhaul to both meet US pressure to halt Iranian power imports and head off summertime protests over chronic cuts.
To reclaim Baghdad, Iraqi artists grapple with its ghosts | AFP
[Published here on November 24, 2018]
Dressed in a multi-coloured beanie and grey sneakers, Zaid Saad had just finished setting up his contemporary art exhibit on Baghdad’s sandy riverbank when police showed up.
Iraq gets US sanctions break to keep the lights on | AFP
[Written with my colleague Ammar Karim and published here on November 8, 2018]
Iraq has won an exemption allowing it to buy Iranian electricity despite US sanctions, as the country plagued by chronic power shortages walks a tightrope between rivals Washington and Tehran.
With US measures imposed Monday taking aim at Iran’s banking and energy industries, there were concerns Iraq — which heavily relies on its eastern neighbour for electricity and consumer goods — would be caught in the crossfire.
More than 200 mass graves found in former IS territory in Iraq, UN says | AFP
[Published here November 6, 2018]
More than 200 mass graves containing up to 12,000 victims have been found so far in Iraq that could hold vital evidence of war crimes by the Islamic State group, the UN said Tuesday.
The United Nations in Iraq (UNAMI) and its human rights office said they had documented a total of 202 mass graves in parts of western and northern Iraq held by IS between 2014 and 2017.
US-led strike in Syria blocks IS fighters evacuated from Lebanon | AFP
[Published here on August 30, 2017]
Beirut (AFP) – The US-led coalition carried out two sets of air strikes on Wednesday to block Islamic State group fighters evacuated from Lebanon from reaching eastern Syria, its spokesman told AFP.
Mosul battle leaving legacy of environmental damage | AFP
[Published here on December 12, 2016]
Qayyarah, Iraq // The battle to retake Mosul from ISIL is leaving a legacy of environmental damage and health risks that will pose dangers to people for years to come.
Iraqi firefighters battle to tame IS oil well fires | AFP
[Published here on November 20, 2016]
Clad in red helmets and surgical masks, the firefighters emerged exhausted from the massive column of smoke streaming almost incessantly out of an oil well in northern Iraq.
Informants and interrogations crucial to Mosul advance | AFP
[Published here on November 19, 2016]
Identification cards and cell phones in hand, dozens of Iraqi men and boys trudge down a dusty road in eastern Mosul towards intelligence officials waiting apprehensively outside the neighbourhood mosque.
MAYA GEBEILY 