BAGHDAD — Twin suicide bombings ripped through a busy market in the Iraqi capital on Thursday, killing at least 32 people and wounding dozens, officials said in what was the first massive bombing in years, harkening back to darker days of rampant militant attacks. The rare suicide bombing hit the...
Relative of Blackwater Victim in Iraq Says Pardons ‘Unfair’
BAGHDAD — Faris Fadel had just one word to describe the recent pardoning by the Trump administration of four private security contractors convicted of killing Iraqi civilians — including his brother — in a public square 13 years ago: Unfair. Fadel's brother, Osama Abbas, had been on his way to...
As US Plans Troop Withdrawal, Rockets Strike Baghdad Green Zone
BAGHDAD — Rockets struck Iraq's capital Tuesday with four landing inside the heavily fortified Green Zone, Iraq’s military said, killing a child and wounding at least five people, signaling an end to an informal truce announced by Iran-backed militias in October. Two Iraqi security officials said one of the rockets...
New US Citizen Refugees Excited for First Presidential Vote
PHOENIX — They came fleeing war and persecution in countries like Myanmar, Eritrea and Iraq, handpicked by the United States for resettlement under longstanding humanitarian traditions. Now, tens of thousands of refugees welcomed into the U.S. during the Obama administration are American citizens, voting the first time in what could...
Kuwait Ruler, Longtime Diplomat Sheikh Sabah, Dies at Age 91
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the ruler of Kuwait who drew on his decades as the oil-rich nation’s top diplomat to push for closer ties to Iraq after the 1990 Gulf War and solutions to other regional crises, died Tuesday. He was 91. In...
Trump Bestowing Medal of Honor on Soldier for Hostage Rescue
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will bestow the Medal of Honor on a U.S. soldier Friday for his role in a daring 2015 mission to rescue dozens of hostages who were set to be executed by Islamic State militants in Iraq. Trump picked the 19th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks...
Thousands Participate in Memorial Parade for Fallen Marine
SIMI VALLEY — The family of a U.S. Marine killed in Iraq last month had to postpone his memorial service because of restrictions on large gatherings in California to slow the spread of the coronavirus. On Sunday morning, they were surprised with a parade outside their Simi Valley home that...
Hanford Soldier Among 3 Allies Killed in Iraq Attack
Army Spc. Juan Miguel Mendez Covarrubias, 27, of Hanford was one of two U.S. servicemen killed Wednesday when a barrage of rockets was fired at a military base in Iraq, U.S. officials said Air Force Staff Sgt. Marshal Roberts, 28, of Owasso, Oklahoma was also killed, as well as a...
Iraq Army Says US Strikes Kill 5 Security Forces, 1 Civilian
BAGHDAD — Iraq's military said five security force members and a civilian were killed early Friday in a barrage of U.S. airstrikes launched hours after a rocket attack killed and wounded American and British servicemen at a base north of Baghdad. An Iran-backed Shiite militia group vowed to exact revenge...
Officials: US Strikes Iran-Backed Group That Hit Iraq Base
WASHINGTON — The U.S. launched airstrikes in Iraq Thursday, American officials said, targeting the Iranian-backed Shia militia members believed responsible for the rocket attack that killed and wounded American and British troops at a base north of Baghdad. One U.S. official said multiple strikes targeted Kataib Hezbollah weapons facilities inside...