Islamic State's Saudi ‘mufti’ slain in Iraq

A Saudi mufti with the Islamic State (IS or Daesh) has been killed in Iraq by the country’s armed forces, says an Iraqi news site, quoting an Iraqi military commander.

“Daesh mufti Abu Osama Al-Qahtani was killed inside a building in Baiji, Tikrit, along with four of his assistants in an air raid that targeted an IS meeting on Tuesday,” Lt. Gen. Ali Al-Freiji, commander in Saladin province, was quoted by Waradana as saying.

Iraq forces advance into militant-held Tikrit: officials

KIRKUK: Iraqi security forces advanced into militant-held Tikrit on Tuesday in an assault aimed at revitalising flagging efforts to retake the city, officials said.

Security forces began the attack in morning and have succeeded in retaking government facilities in the city's south.

Rocket landings at Saudi-Iraq border under probe

Three Hawn rockets fell on Monday in a desert area near the northern border area of Jadida Arar, but caused no injuries or damages, a spokesman of the Border Guards has revealed.

An investigation has been launched to identify the source of the rockets, Maj. Mohammed Al-Ghamdi, the spokesman, told Arab News.

He said security forces are prepared to protect all the country’s borders. This includes tackling smugglers on the southern border and dealing with any fallout arising from the Iraq crisis.

Iraq crisis: Over 90 Indians left Baghdad, other regions, says MEA

New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs on Monday said that several Indians trapped in Iraq have left for India as the country battles ongoing militant onslaught.

While speaking to the reporters, MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said that from Karbala, 30 Indians have left Iraq today and the rest 100 will leave in next 3 to 4 days.

"From Najaf, 60 Indian have left today. For 31 papers will be processed tomorrow and for the remaining 30 it will be done a day after.

Nato to convene as Kerry backs Iraq against militant threat

BAGHDAD: Nato foreign ministers convene Tuesday to discuss the Iraq crisis after US Secretary of State John Kerry pledged “intense” support to Baghdad in the fight against militants pushing towards the capital.

Kerry made a surprise visit to Iraq on Monday as Sunni insurgents led by the militant Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, seized a strategic town in the northern part of the country, while security forces retook a border crossing with Syria.

Iraq crisis: 48 foreign captives released, Indian hostages await help

Militants who have seized large swathes of territory In Iraq have released 48 foreigners, including four Turks, held captive for several days.

There is no news of the 40 Indian workers, captured near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

The released foreigners are construction workers from Turkey, Nepal, Bangladesh, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, who were helping build a hospital in the now insurgent-held city of Tikrit.

Bombs against Kurds, other attacks in Iraq kill 33

BAGHDAD: A double bombing tore through Kurdish political party offices in northern Iraq in the deadliest of a series of attacks nationwide that killed at least 33 people, officials said.

It was the second such assault in as many days. Nobody claimed responsibility for Monday´s attack.

But an al-Qaida splinter group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for the previous double bombing Sunday against Kurdish offices in Jalula, northwest of Baghdad, killing 19 people.

Bombs kill Iraqi pilgrims and police official

Three attacks targeting Shiite pilgrims killed 21 people and wounded dozens Thursday in Baghdad, police said. And in other violence in Iraq, eight people were killed.

A suicide bomber blew himself up among pilgrims in western Baghdad's Mansour district, killing 11 other people and wounding others, police said.

Separately, in eastern Baghdad's Nahdha commercial district, a suicide car bomb targeting civilians killed eight people in addition to the bomber and wounded 13 others, police aid.

Nineteen killed in Baghdad car bomb attacks

A wave of car bombings in mainly Shia areas of Baghdad killed 19 people on Tuesday, officials said.

The attacks came as Iraqi Shias were celebrating the birthday of Imam Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad and Shia Islam’s most sacred martyr.

Police officials said a car bomb went off in the Baghdad neighbourhood of Sadr city, killing four people and wounding six in the morning hours. Another car bomb elsewhere in Sadr city went off near a cluster of homes, killing two people and wounding seven.

Iraq violence including Baghdad bombings kills 47

BAGHDAD: A series of bombings across Baghdad were the deadliest in a spate of nationwide attacks that killed 47 people on Tuesday, as Iraq struggles with its worst violence since 2008.

At least eight car bombs and several roadside bombs struck the capital just before Iraqis broke their daytime Ramadan fast, the latest in brutal violence during the Muslim holy month that has left hundreds dead.

Attacks on Baghdad mosques kill nine

BAGHDAD: A Shia and a Sunni mosque in Baghdad were targeted in bombings that killed at least nine people, Iraqi officials said.

Police officials said a suicide bomber set off his explosives on Shia worshippers as they were leaving a mosque in the city's suburb of Hussainya late on Tuesday.

Seven people died and 11 were wounded in that attack.

Air raids kill 11 Syrian kids

BEIRUT: Seven children in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo and another four in Homs in the center were among 17 civilians killed in air raids on Tuesday, a watchdog said.

The deaths in Homs come as troops pressed an offensive against remaining rebel areas there, while in Aleppo province, the raid comes exactly a year into the rebel takeover of the targeted town of Anadan.

Militants kill nine police in Iraq's north: officials

BAGHDAD: Militants have killed nine policemen in an attack in the Iraq’s north, police said.

A police officer said an unspecified number of militants attacked a police headquarters outside the northern city of Mosul early on Wednesday.

He said the attack triggered a shootout that left nine policemen dead and two wounded.

There were apparently no casualties among the attackers, the police officer said.

Protest rallies against attack on Hazrat Zainab’s (RA) shrine

Demonstrators on Sunday took to the streets in Karachi and twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi against a rocket attack on the shrine of Hazrat Zainab (A.S) in Syria.

In Islamabad, hundreds of people marched and presented a memorandum to officials of Foreign Office.

The rally, which was taken out from from Sector G-6/2 Imambargah to Radio Pakistan Intersection, was led by Aleema Amin Shaheedi, Deputy Secretary General of Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM).

“It was not attack on the shrine of Bibi Zainab, it was an assault on the unity of Islamic ummah,” one of the protesters remarked.

Egypt announces criminal investigation of Morsi

CAIRO: Egypt announced a criminal investigation on Saturday against deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi, with prosecutors saying they were examining complaints of spying, inciting violence and ruining the economy.

Egypt's first freely elected leader has been held at an undisclosed location since the army removed him from power on July 3, but has not yet been charged with any crime. In recent days, Washington has called for him to be freed and for the authorities to stop arresting leaders of his Muslim Brotherhood.

Chief justice Adly Mansour sworn in as interim president

CAIRO: The chief justice of Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court was sworn in on Thursday as the nation's interim president, taking over hours after the military ousted the Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

Adly Mansour took the oath of office at the Nile-side Constitutional Court in a ceremony broadcast live on state television. According to military decree, Mansour will serve as Egypt's interim leader until a new president is elected. A date for that vote has yet to be set.

Egyptian army issues 48-hour ultimatum

Cairo - The Egyptian army has given the country's politicians a 48 hours ultimatum to resolve the current political stalemate, further emboldening opponents of Mohamed Morsi, the embattled president, and pushing the most populous Arab nation deeper into uncertainty.

The army statement, delivered on state television on Monday, called on political groups to resolve the situation.

"The armed forces repeat their call for the people's demands to be met and give everyone 48 hours as a last chance,” it said.

Morsi rejects Egyptian army's 48-hour ultimatum

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi rebuffs army's 48-hour ultimatum to resolve the country's deadly crisis.Morsi supporters criticised the ultimatum as an attempted coup. A group of pro-Morsi parties, calling themselves the “coalition to defend legitimacy,” called for mass protests in support of the president during a late-night press conference.

Egypt opposition to continue mass protests

Group leading millions seeking Morsi ouster call for leader to quit by Tuesday threatening "civil disobedience".

Protesters seeking to force Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi from office are gearing up for a second day of action, after large crowds thronged the streets of Cairo and cities around the country and marched on the presidential palace.

Some preparing for rallies on Monday spent the night in dozens of tents pitched at the capital's central Tahrir Square and the palace, positions organisers say they will hold until Morsi resigns.

One Killed in Clash near Iranian Embassy in Beirut

The Lebanese Army issued a statement on Sunday in which it said that a citizen was killed in a clash which took place near the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, as demonstrators arrived to the region to protest the Syrian developments.