Iraqi Kurdish forces retake town from ISIS

Iraqi Kurdish forces on Saturday retook the northern town of Zumar from Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremists after weeks of fighting, a senior officer said.

Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces have retaken most of the town of Jurf al-Sakhar near Baghdad from ISIS militants, the biggest gains in months of fighting for the strategic area, senior local officials said on Saturday.

“We have managed to push out Islamic State terrorists from the town of Jurf al-Sakhar today and now we are raising the Iraqi flag over the government offices,” Reuters quoted provincial governor Sadiq Madloul as saying.

Major General Karim Atuti of the Peshmerga security forces told AFP that“ after clashes that began this morning and with American air support, we were able to force (ISIS) militants from the center” of Zumar and 11 surrounding villages.

Zumar is located some 60 kilometers northwest of Mosul, the first city to fall in an ISIS offensive in June.

Sparking offensive

Federal troops withdrew from Zumar, and Peshmerga forces occupied it. But ISIS drove them out during a new campaign in August, pushing them back toward regional capital Erbil.

That helped to spark an U.S.-led air campaign in Iraq that now involves several countries and has been expanded to Syria.

Kurdish forces have since regained some ground, but it has been slow going, and ISIS still holds significant areas in northern Iraq and elsewhere in the country.

Despite heavy fighting still ahead in Iraq, the Kurds plan to deploy up to 200 Peshmerga to help defend Kobane in neighboring Syria, a Kurdish border town under assault by ISIS

Women sex slaves in Iraq

Islamic State jihadists have given detailed theological reasons justifying why they have taken thousands of women from the Iraqi Yazidi minority and sold them into sex slavery.

A new article in the Islamic State English-language online magazine Dabiq not only admits the practice but justifies it according to the theological rulings of early Islam.

“After capture, the Yazidi women and children were then divided according to the Sharia amongst the fighters of the Islamic State who participated,” the article says.

Phoenix man arrested in sexual attack

Police say a Phoenix woman helped prevent a sexual assault earlier this week when she grabbed on to her attacker's genitals.

The alleged attacker, Adrian Lamar Hutson, 21, is on probation and not allowed to have any contact with the woman, whom he is convicted of victimizing in three previous domestic-violence incidents, records show.

Police say Hutson went to the woman's home one recent morning and began undressing her in an attempt to sexually assault her.

The woman was able to fight back by grabbing onto Hutson's genitalia and squeezing until he screamed in pain, police reports said.

Reports state that Hutson then punched her in the head and repeatedly hit, slapped and kicked her.

When the woman made an attempt to call authorities, Hutson ripped the phone wires out of the wall and continued to pull the victim towards him, police said. The woman was eventually able to reach her cell phone and called police.

Hutson fled but returned days later to the scene, where officers arrested him on Thursday, records show.

When questioned by investigators, Hutson told police he went to the woman's home but denied trying to have sex with her and said she attacked him, records show.

Hutson was booked into a Maricopa County jail on suspicion of sexual assault, kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated domestic violence, assault and interference with a 911 call, according to police documents. He is being held on a $25,000 bond.

Rash of acid-throwing incidents attributed to one man

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 01:02

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Hossein Zolfaghari

The deputy head of Iran’s Security forces says investigations regarding the incidents of acid throwing in Isfahan have revealed that the crimes were committed by a single individual and not by an organized group.

IRNA quotes Hossein Zolfaghari saying: “The information we have gathered points toward actions by a single individual [and] as investigations progress, we will find out if there were any abettors.”

He added that news of similar acts in other cities was merely rumour and not true.

The office of the deputy commander in chief of police announced that the perpetrator of the acid-throwing incidents in Isfahan has been identified and those attacks were in no way linked to the issue of hijab.

Mahmoud Alizadeh reported that the individual has not yet been arrested, adding that despite the culprit’s precautions, he soon will be arrested.

Drone strike kills three al Qaeda-linked militants-tribal sources

A U.S. drone strike killed three suspected members of the al Qaeda-linked group near their battlefront with arch-rivals from the Shi’ite Muslim Houthi group, tribal sources said.

The sources said the drone was used in the al-Manasseh area against Ansar al-Sharia, the local wing of al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP).

The drone was still circling the area, they said.

This was believed to be the first U.S. air strike against the militant group in Yemen since the Houthis engaged al-Qaeda-linked militants in central Yemen after they captured the capital Sanaa last month.

Washington has acknowledged using drones in Yemen. AQAP is believed to be among the most active wings of the network founded by Osama bin Laden.

In the last known drone strike in Yemen in August, three suspected al-Qaeda militants were killed in the country’s eastern Hadramout province.

In April, a series of drone strikes killed about 65 militants in southern and central provinces. The Yemeni army followed up with an air and ground offensive to dislodge AQAP fighters from their main strongholds in the south.

The Houthis, who hail from the Zaydi branch of Shi’ite Islam, captured the capital Sanaa in September.

Last Update: Saturday, 25 October 2014 KSA 01:10 - GMT 22:10

ISIS jihadists gain ground in Iraq's Anbar

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group gained ground west of Baghdad Thursday, further reducing the government's already-shaky hold on Anbar province, officials said.

"The Albu Nimr area fell completely into the hand of (IS) members," Ghazi Najras, an Anbar MP, said in reference to the tract on the Euphrates River and east of the town of Heet, which fell last week.

Clashes began early Thursday and lasted until about 10:00 am (0700 GMT), police Colonel Shaban al-Obaidi said.

The militants then detained more than 60 people, including security forces members, the officer said.

ISIS, which spearheaded a sweeping offensive in June that overran much of Iraq's Sunni Arab heartland, has executed hundreds of captured security forces members.

Albu Nimr is the latest in a string of places in Anbar to fall in recent weeks. The series of setbacks has prompted warnings from some officials that the entire province, which borders Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Baghdad province, could fall completely.

Some officials and Sunni tribal leaders in areas most affected by the unrest have argued the world should step up its involvement from air strikes against ISIS to a ground intervention in Iraq.

But Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi has repeatedly said he opposes foreign ground troops fighting in Iraq.

Rohani casts positive light despite slow nuclear talks

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 15:07

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Iranian president Hassan Rohani told reporters it is possible to reach a final nuclear agreement since consensus has been reached between Iran and the 5+1 on most of the general issues.

IRNA reported on Wednesday October 22, Rohani spoke of the nuclear talks in his trip to Zanjan saying: "Consensus has been reached on almost all general issues; of course, these general issues do have details that are of importance to both sides."

He added that "good steps have been taken to reach a final agreement" and maintained that although he had hoped for more progress at this stage, there is still enough time to reach deal.

The parties had agreed to reach a final deal by the end of November.

"We will not go back to the previous situation," Rohani spoke of the nuclear dispute; "our situation will alter for sure. We will achieve a resolution and if not, we have other solutions in mind."

He went on to add: "The rationale of the government, the people and the leader is that by making our negotiations transparent to the global eye, we will establish that we have acted rationally and that only unreasonable and excessive demands have caused the delays."

There has been little progress reported to the media in the latest rounds of nuclear talks which are still ongoing.