Several victims were hospitalized with respiratory problems after a barrage of shelling Wednesday morning near key energy infrastructure.
Security concerns in southeast Turkey are apparently preventing a restart to the Iraq-Turkey pipeline, forcing Kurdistan's oil operators to halt production and worsening the KRG’s fiscal crisis.
The severe disruption highlights the extent to which the KRG's oil sector and economy are vulnerable to Ankara’s fight with Kurds in Syria and Turkey.
The town of Sulaiman Bek epitomizes a major challenge facing Iraq: IS has been ousted, but ethno-sectarian politics are preventing displaced civilians from returning.
With larger military presence and influence, U.S. pressures Iraqi government to empower tribal forces and local police.
Striking police officers take to the streets, decrying government pay cuts made in response to a crippling financial crisis.
A key gas pipeline has been repaired after a Jan. 29 explosion temporarily cut off natural gas flows necessary for generating about half of Kurdistan's electricity.
Reinforcements from outside Basra are working to tamp down tribal fighting, including near oil fields, but some militias have chafed at the influx of forces.
Thousands of government-backed militia fighters with heavy weapons are gathering for an assault on the Islamic State-held town of Bashir. Victory would give Kirkuk and its oil a larger buffer against attacks but risks increased disputed territory tension in the aftermath.
The suspected bombing of Kurdistan's only gas pipeline has choked off fuel to major power plants, cutting electricity generation capacity in half.
