Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses. Share the link of this article with your facebook friends

 

171 Assassinations, Abductions During Iraqi Protests, Appeals to the UN to Intervene, US Forces Resume Operations

January 31, 2020

Editor's Note:

Iraqis, both Sunnis and Shi'is, are fed-up with the US-installed corrupt regime, they are in full revolt against it, demanding it to be thrown out (regime change by people).

 

A US military patrol in northern Iraq, file, January 31, 2020	Iraqi protesters in Baghdad, file, January 31, 2020

 

The following are news stories from the independent Iraqi Arabic news agency, Yaqein ( http://yaqein.net/ ):

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James Jeffrey expects a decrease in the number of US soldiers, while increasing NATO role in Iraq مبعوث التحالف يتوقع خفض عدد القوات الأمريكية بالعراق وتفعيل دور الناتو 31 يناير 2020 ، يقين أكد المبعوث الأمريكي للتحالف الدولي جيمس جيفري أن الولايات المتحدة تتطلع لتخفيض عدد القوات الأمريكية في العراق، وبين أن الرئيس ترامب ألمح إلى إمكانية اللجوء إلى هذه الوسيلة وقيام الناتو بدور أكبر. وقال المبعوث الأميركي الخاص للتحالف الدولي جيمس جيفري: إن “التحالف بحث في كيفية الرد على دعوة البرلمان العراقي بسحب القوات الأميركية من العراق”. وقال جيفري إن “الأخبار الجيدة من العراق هي أن الجيش العراقي يواصل عمليات محاربة داعش وقام بعمليات ناجحة جداً وهذا أمر مشجع”. وأوضح أن هناك سبباً لوجود أكثر من خمسة آلاف جندي أميركي ومن التحالف الدولي في العراق وهو “جعل الجيش العراقي أكثر فعالية في القتال ضد تنظيم الدولة (داعش)”. ثم استدرك قائلا “لكن نحن الآن محدودون في القيام بذلك لأن قوات التحالف تركز على حماية نفسها بعد الهجمات الصاروخية على القواعد العراقية.” وتابع “لكننا متفائلون جداً بأننا والحكومة العراقية سنتمكن من إنهاء مرحلة حماية القوات واستئناف العمليات المشتركة والعودة مجدداً إلى الميدان بفاعلية كاملة”. وأكد جيفري أيضا أن هناك حاجة إلى التحالف الدولي وخصوصاً للولايات المتحدة في العراق، حيث لا يزال داعش يشكل تهديدا. جيفري أوضح أن واشنطن تتطلع للعمل بشأن إيجاد سبل مثل احتمال تخفيض عدد القوات العسكرية، وقال إن “الرئيس ترامب ألمح إلى إمكانية اللجوء إلى هذه الوسيلة وقيام الناتو بدور أكبر”. من ناحية أخرى تطرق جيفري إلى التعرض بالقصف للسفارة الأميركية في بغداد وقال “إن هذا الأمر مقلق جداً بالنسبة للعلاقات الثنائية بين الولايات المتحدة والعراق ونطالب الحكومة العراقية باتخاذ إجراءات إضافية”. وتوقف السفير جيفري عند وكلاء إيران في العراق وسوريا بعد قتل سليماني وقال “إن أتباع إيران في سوريا والعراق ما زالوا خطيرين”. https://yaqein.net/politics/241792

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The following are news stories from the independent Iraqi English news site, (https://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en):

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Iraqi Protesters Appeal to UN for Intervention to “Save Iraq”

The Baghdad Post, January 31, 2020

Protesters in Iraq’s southern province of Diwaniyah on Thursday made an appeal to the international community and the United Nations to intervene and “save Iraq” following months of violent response to the peaceful protests across the country.

Hundreds of protesters took back to the streets in Diwaniyah, raising placards to make their voice heard by the international community.
“We demand the international community and the United Nations to intervene immediately to save Iraq,” reads one of the placards.
Similar messages were sent by protesters in Baghdad a day earlier.

United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) on Thursday issued a press release to urge the Iraqi authorities to step up the efforts in breaking the political deadlock in the country, and ending the ongoing violent response to protests across the country.

“The continuing loss of young lives and the daily bloodshed is intolerable. At least 467 protesters have been killed and over 9,000 injured since 1 October,” the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, said in the release.

IHCHR Records 171 Assassinations, Abductions During Iraqi Protests

The Baghdad Post, January 31, 2020

Caretaker Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi stressed Tuesday that his government deals with demonstrators in a “paternal” manner and adheres to the rules of engagement with them. However, demonstrators, human rights organizations, as well as the international community seems to look at the protests from a different angle.

For their part, protesting groups have mocked Mahd's statement, describing it as “misleading and untrue.” A reaction adopted by many local and international human rights organizations who agree with these groups, given the number of victims which amounted to 26,000 cases ranging from assassinations, assaults, and abductions.

In its latest statistic on the numbers of protesters and journalists who were kidnapped and injured in the past weeks and months, the independent Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights of Iraq (IHCHR) announced documenting 171 cases during protests.

IHCHR Member Dr. Fadhel al-Gharawi said in a statement on Wednesday that “attempts to assassinate, kidnap and assault demonstrators are a flagrant violation of the human right to life and safety and a restriction of freedom of opinion, expression, and peaceful protest.”

The Commission has documented 49 cases of attempted assassinations and 72 abduction attempts involving protesters, activists, and bloggers since the first day of the demonstrations, he noted.

“Through its monitoring teams, the IHCHR has documented 50 assault cases against journalists, through beating, threatening, inhaling tear gas, attacking many satellite channels, breaking equipment and preventing media workers from playing their role in covering the demonstrations.”

The country’s Interior Ministry ordered on Tuesday the closure of the local “Tigris” television channel, which is known for its extensive coverage of anti-power protests nearly four months ago, for a full month.

Gharawi called on the government and security forces to take effective measures to protect the demonstrators and journalists, preserve their lives, pursue the unknown parties that are trying to silence them and bring them to justice.

He also urged them to promote the freedom of opinion, expression and peaceful demonstration for all parties away from dangers that threaten the lives of protesters, activists, and journalists.

US awaits Iraq's okay to deploy Patriots to protect troops

The United States is awaiting a green light from the Iraqi government to deploy Patriot missile defense systems to protect US troops from Iranian missile attacks, Pentagon chief Mark Esper said Thursday, AFP reported.

Iran launched 11 missiles at a US air base at Ain al-Assad and another at a base in Erbil on January 8 in retaliation for the killing days earlier of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in a US drone strike in Baghdad.

No US troops were killed but dozens suffered traumatic brain injuries from the explosions, and Washington wants to deploy Patriot missiles to better protect the bases, which house some of the 5,200 US military personnel deployed in Iraq.

Iraq says it resumes counter-ISIS operations with U.S. coalition

Iraq's military said on Thursday it was resuming operations with the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS after a halt following the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and Iranian attacks on bases hosting U.S. forces.

"In order to exploit the time that remains for the international coalition before the new relationship is set up... It was decided to carry out joint actions which enable our forces" to fight Islamic State, a military statement said.  

US military aircraft reportedly crashes in Iraq

The Baghdad Post, January 29, 2020

According to Alforat News, an American C-27J transport aircraft has crashed west of al-Anbar province. The report noted that no Iraqi or American official has commented on the incident yet, adding that four of the crew on board have also been killed. The report comes as an American spy plane, a Bombardier E-11A, came down in Afghanistan early Monday. The Taliban claimed to have brought it down, however, a US defense official claimed that a preliminary probe showed there was a mechanical error. Neither US officials nor any members of the international force in Afghanistan have visited the site of the crash.

US media broke their partial news blackout on the incident, with some reporting the crash late on Monday. The aircraft has been identified as Bombardier E-11A belonging to the US Air Force. It is the military variant of the civil Bombardier BD-700 Global Express for use as an overhead communications-relay platform in Southwest Asia.

Iran Launches Drone, Missile Strikes on Iraqi Kurds

The Baghdad Post, January 28, 2020

On July 12, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) struck Iraqi Kurdish militant groups with missiles, artillery, and drones.

 According to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency, the IRGC employed its new armed M-6 drones to attack several positions in the Iraqi Kurdistan region. 

In a statement, the IRGC said the strikes came in response to recent Kurdish attacks in western and northwestern Iran that killed five Iranian servicemen. 

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