Jalawla

• Iraqi Kurdish Student Uses Holiday to Fight Jihadists

  Briyar Kamal, a 24-year-old Kurdish student, achieved good marks at university, but instead of relaxing during his summer holiday he is fighting jihadists who have overrun swathes of Iraq.

• Iraq Village Now Eerie Outpost For Kurdish Fighters

  Only the scattered voices of Kurdish fighters break the silence in the Iraqi village of Wadi Osaj, where the mud and cement block houses stand empty and locked after residents fled.

• Kurds Launch Attack to Retake Iraq Town of Jalawla From Islamic State

  Iraq's Kurdish peshmerga forces on Friday launched an operation to retake the flashpoint town of Jalawla from Islamic State jihadist fighters, Kurdish officials said.

• Iraqi Airstrike Kills Seven Kurdish Security Forces in Diyala: Police

  At least seven members of the Kurdish security forces were killed in an airstrike in Iraq's northeastern province of Diyala on Saturday, police said.

• Insurgents Take Two More Iraqi Towns, Obama Threatens Air Strikes

  Sunni Islamist militants gained more ground in Iraq overnight, moving into two towns in the eastern province of Diyala, while U.S. President Barack Obama considered military strikes to halt their advance towards the capital Baghdad.

• Insurgents Move into Iraqi Town of Jalawla After Army Flees

  Insurgents moved into the town of Jalawla in eastern Iraq late on Thursday after security forces abandoned their posts there, security sources said.