Iraqi Defence Ministry

‘Epic’ Serbian Arms Deal Led to Pierced Skulls in Baghdad

The 40 mm M99 grenades - far heavier than the tear gas canisters used by police forces around the world to control civil unrest - arrived in four shipments in 2009, BIRN reveals.

A decade later, they were used by Iraqi government forces to disperse anti-government protesters in the Iraqi capital, to deadly effect.

Iraq starts to bomb IS-controlled city of Tal Afar

Iraq has begun an aerial bombardment of Tal Afar, a town under Islamic State control west of Mosul, Baghdad-based al-Sumariya TV said on Tuesday, citing an Iraqi Defence Ministry spokesman.
The ground attack to try to take the city should start when the air campaign is over, the spokesman, Mohammed al-Khodari, said, according to the TV channel.

Air Strike in Iraq Reportedly Kills IS Deputy Leader

The second-in-command of Islamic State (IS) was reportedly killed in air strike, carried out by the US-led coalition in northern Iraq.

According to a spokesman of the Iraqi Defence Ministry, Abdul Rahman Mustafa Mohammed, also known as Abu Alaa al-Afri, was inside a mosque in Tal Afar, which was targeted.