Khaled Al-obeidi

Iraq's Defence Minister predicted today that security forces backed by US-led coalition air strikes would retake full control of the city of Ramadi by the end of the year.

Iraq's defence minister said on Sunday he had told his Turkish counterpart that hundreds of Turkish forces deployed inside Iraq near the Islamic State-held city of Mosul had been sent without informing or coordinating with Baghdad, and should be withdrawn.

Iraq said security and allied forces backed by US-led coalition aircraft "liberated" the city of Tikrit on Tuesday, its biggest victory yet in the fight against Islamic State jihadists.

Iraqi Defence Minister Khaled al-Obeidi said today that the Iraqi military has started rebuilding after its near total collapse last summer but that the effort is still in its initial phase. "We are still in the very early steps; some of these steps might be painful, but we must endure," Obeidi said in a televised address on the national holiday Ar...

Iraq's Defence Minister predicted today that security forces backed by US-led coalition air strikes would retake full control of the city of Ramadi by the end of the year.

Iraq's defence minister said on Sunday he had told his Turkish counterpart that hundreds of Turkish forces deployed inside Iraq near the Islamic State-held city of Mosul had been sent without informing or coordinating with Baghdad, and should be withdrawn.

Iraq said security and allied forces backed by US-led coalition aircraft "liberated" the city of Tikrit on Tuesday, its biggest victory yet in the fight against Islamic State jihadists.

Iraqi Defence Minister Khaled al-Obeidi said today that the Iraqi military has started rebuilding after its near total collapse last summer but that the effort is still in its initial phase. "We are still in the very early steps; some of these steps might be painful, but we must endure," Obeidi said in a televised address on the national holiday Ar...