Latest Updates on Iraq, 9 October 2020

1- A rocket attack on the headquarters of the 110th Hashad al-Shaabi Brigade in the al-Saadiyah area, in the northeast of Diyala province.

2- Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s visit to Dhi Qar and review of the security situation in the province with the presence of the Minister of Interior and military and security commanders.

3- Iraqi President Barham Saleh met with the UN Special Representative for Iraq regarding the forthcoming elections in the country and the coordination of the UN with the High Electoral Commission to monitor the process.

4- Continued bombing of Iraqi Kurdish controlled areas by Turkish warplanes. The Matin Mountains were bombed for the 37th time by Turkey.

5- Meeting of Masrour Barzani, the Prime Minister of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, with David Copley, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Iraqi Affairs. The head of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, also met with David Copley.

6- The command of Hashad al-Shaabi forces in Samarra started a security operation in order to clear several areas in the north of the city of Samarra. Hashad al-Shaabi and the Iraqi Union Police also launched a joint security operation southwest of Kirkuk.

7- Security forces clash with a group in Karbala.
Security groups: During the Arbaeen Hosseini ceremony in Karbala’s Al-Tarbiya Square, a group of demonstrators from different provinces moved towards Bab al-Qiblah and tried to enter the holy shrine of Imam Hussein (AS) through the “exit” doors. Which were blocked by security forces.
Various Iraqi personalities and groups condemned the events in Karbala, calling it a sedition by infiltrators and saboteurs.

8- Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi met with the US Ambassador and Commander of the so-called International Coalition Against ISIS.

9- In the terrorist attack on one of the centers of the police forces in Hawija, seven of these forces were martyred.

10- The spokesman of the Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, affiliated to Hashad al-Shaabi, announced a dialogue between the resistance forces and the groups that fired rockets in order to put an end to these actions.

11- After the recent firing of rockets at the American terrorist base near the Erbil International Airport in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, the Hashad al-Shaabi forces in the Nineveh Plain, in an agreement, will be 5 kilometers away from the headquarters of the Peshmerga forces affiliated to the Kurdistan Region.

12- The military intelligence unit of the 20th Division and the forces of the 66th Brigade reconnaissance group in cooperation with the intelligence unit of the West Nineveh Operations Headquarters in a special and surprise operation, arrested the famous terrorist known as “Al-Raqawi” who is one of the most important ISIS element in the village of Al-Kusirin in the Al-Hamdaniyah district, west of Nineveh
Iraqi forces also managed to capture the ISIS mufti in Kirkuk’s Irshad district in another operation.

13- Turkish Parliament extends approval of use of military forces in Iraq and Syria until October 2021.

14- Spokesman for the US-led International Coalition Against ISIS in Iraq and Syria: The US military has downsized from about 5,200 to less than 3,000 in Iraq.

15- The formation of a High Committee to investigate security breaches at the US Embassy and Iraqi bases where coalition forces are stationed by Prime Minister Mustafa alKadhimi.