Key Takeaways: Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs) and the Federal Police cleared Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) militants from the district of Rutbah in western Anbar Province. Since ISIS captured the district in June 2014, al-Rutbah has been used by ISIS as a training and staging grounds for recruits. Pro-government […]
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ISHM 62: May 6 – 12, 2016
Baghdad witnessed the bloodiest terrorist attack this year when ISIS attacked a crowded public market in al-Sadr City, just east of the capital, as well as two other sites in predominantly Shi’a neighborhoods. To date, at least 93 people are reported dead and more than 165 others injured. As Iraqi Security Forces and associated militias […]
ISHM 61: April 29 – May 5, 2016
Key Takeaways Approximately 3,800 individuals have been relocated to Erbil’s Makhmour District in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) as a result of Iraqi military efforts to reclaim Mosul from the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). This rapid influx of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to Makhmour has pushed the camp’s occupancy well beyond […]
Two weeks left…
Non-soccer fans may not understand the game’s ability to unify. But in Iraq, soccer makes communities forget their differences – at least for a moment – and celebrate instead the things that we share. You may have read the heartbreaking series by Liz Sly of theWashington Post about the suicide bombing at a youth soccer game in Asriya, […]
ISHM 60: April 22 – 28, 2016
Key Takeaways This week a quorum of the Iraqi Parliament voted on seven of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s 16 cabinet nominees, with five being approved. During that same session, Members of Parliament annulled last week’s session of parliament that replaced Speaker of Parliament Salim al-Jubouri with an interim Speaker. According to MP Hanan al-Fatlawi, Mr. […]
ISHM 59: April 15 – 21, 2016
Key Takeaways: In western Anbar province, Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and the anti-ISIS coalition completed the liberation of Hit, a city along the Euphrates River Valley that has been held by ISIS since October 2014. This is the largest city in Anbar to be freed since December’s liberation of Ramadi. The ISF Commander in Anbar […]
This is Personal…
We need to raise $25,000 in 30 days. More than 1,000 displaced families and children in Iraq are counting on our Soccer Salam program to deliver food, clean water, medicine, and other essentials before the start of summer. This effort means a lot to me. I can relate to those displaced children because I lived […]
ISHM 58: April 8 – 14, 2016
Key Takeaways: According to the Head of the Hit District Council in Anbar, Mohammed Mohanad al-Hiti, announced last week that Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs) with the assistance of U.S.-led international coalition have cleared 85% of the city of Hit to the west of Ramadi from the Islamic State of Iraq […]
ISHM 57: April 1 – 7, 2016
On Monday, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) launched 5 suicide bomb attacks on an Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) military checkpoint near al-Baghdadi, northwest of Ramadi, killing 11 ISF members and injuring 4 others. On Tuesday, the head of Hit’s District Council announced that, with the help of US-led international coalition air support, […]
ISHM 56: March 25 – 31, 2016
Latest Takeaways: Last Friday, Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), and anti-ISIS tribal forces cleared the Kubaisa sub-district, 60 kilometers west of Ramadi, killing dozens of Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) fighters. On the same day, ISF forces pushed ISIS out of the towns of al-Zaghareed and al-Tali’a, north of Fallujah. […]