The IS took control of the country’s northern city of Mosul and later seized swathes of territories in Nineveh and other predominantly Sunni provinces.
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India, Russia Sign 16 Agreements, Defence Manufacturing Gets Boost
Welcoming PM Modi, Imran Khan, Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party, said he had also invited the Indian PM to Pakistan during his recent visit to India.
In Syria, earlier efforts to train rebels stumbled and the United States has instead opted to support Kurdish and Syrian Arab groups with a mix of ammunition drops and air strikes.
At least 14 dead in trail of destruction
The Storm Prediction Center said at least 14 tornadoes hit MS on Wednesday, but a single twister did most of the damage. It’s part of the same cell that warranted an earlier tornado warning in Tuscaloosa County, southwest of the Jefferson.
The operation in Ramadi is an important test of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s ability to muster government force against the well-armed extremist organization, and of President Obama’s strategy for relying on local partners to defeat a viral militant ideology that has spawned affiliates from Libya to Afghanistan.
PM Modi expresses gratitude to Sharif
The Punjab Chief Minister and Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar were also present at the airport to receive the guest. He added that the Indian Prime Minister wanted to go down in history as a visionary despite facing domestic pressure.
The Iraqi security forces, the Kurdish government forces known as the Peshmerga, the Sunni tribes and the popular mobilization troops are at times at odds as they try to battle IS. Abadi has demanded that Turkish troops immediately withdraw from Iraq’s territory.
“Four Turkish troops were wounded in a mortar attack against the military training camp near Mosul”, an unnamed Turkish official said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday for talks with U.S. military commanders, seeking ways to intensify the fight against Islamic State militants.
“We offer condolences to our Iraqi martyr brothers’ families and the Iraqi people, and wish the injured a speedy recovery”, the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.
It said the four wounded soldiers were evacuated to a hospital in Turkey near the border with Iraq and none of them were in life-threatening condition.
“Everything we do…here is subject to the approval of the sovereign Iraqi government”, Carter said. Seven Peshmerga were killed, he said.
The statement noted that the attacks were staged by the terrorists to breach “Peshmerga defensive lines following significant losses in recent months”.
The United States has said it is willing to deploy advisers and attack helicopters to help Iraq retake Ramadi, west of Baghdad.
The US State Department had said earlier that the conflict was a just a “dispute between Turkey and Iraq” over “a small number of troops”.
There are around 3,500 USA troops still stationed in the country but defence chiefs at the Pentagon hope America’s allies and Iraqi troops will start to take the lead in the fight against the fanatical Islamists.
Ankara insists the deployment was a routine rotation, but Baghdad said it was unauthorised and a violation of its sovereignty.
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More than 1,000 fighters have received training at the camp.
