Qassem Atta

Iraqi forces broke through to the jihadist-besieged ethnic Turkmen town of Amerli Aug. 31 where thousands of people have been trapped for more than two months with dwindling food and water supplies.

Kurdish peshmerga fighters backed by US warplanes pressed a counter-offensive against jihadists Monday after retaking Iraq's largest dam alongside federal forces, as the United States and Britain stepped up their military involvement.
      

Shelling west of Baghdad killed the commander of the Iraqi army's 6th division on Monday, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's security spokesman said.        

The ISIL jihadists whose sweeping Sunni militant offensive has captured swathes of Iraq have declared an "Islamic caliphate" in their territory as Iraqi forces battle to retake Saddam Hussein's hometown Tikrit.

Iraqi forces have made a "tactical" withdrawal from three western towns, a security spokesman said on Sunday, as Sunni militants widened an offensive that has already overrun swathes of territory.
     
"The military units' withdrawal (from Al-Qaim, Rawa and Ana) was for the purpose of redeployment," Lieutenant General Qassem Atta said, referring to it as a "tactical" move.

Iraqi government forces regained full control Thursday of the country's biggest oil refinery after heavy fighting with Sunni militants attempting to seize it, officials said.
      

Iraq's premier vowed June 18 to "face terrorism" and insisted security forces had suffered a "setback" rather than defeat, as militants pressing a major offensive attacked the country's largest oil refinery.