Mediaboss Marketing

The government of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region has banned the sale of guns to members of the public after two professors were shot dead at Salahaddin University in Erbil, the capital of the region.

The two men were killed on Tuesday, reportedly by a disgruntled former student who apparently bought the weapon on Facebook.

On Thursday, a husband and wife were shot dead, also in Erbil, after a family dispute, according to Kurdish news outlet Rudaw.

"We will not allow anyone to undermine public peace and security," Masrour Barzani, prime minister of the Kurdish region, said on Twitter.

"Today, I have called on security services to close all weapon dealerships and seize all unlicensed weapons. I urge our citizens to join this national campaign and turn over unlicensed weapons to the government."

The move follows a law passed by the Interior Ministry in Erbil in 2019 giving gun owners six months to register their weapons or face penalties for carrying illegal guns.

The federal government in Baghdad also has some loose gun-control measures in place, including requiring licences from owners and gun sellers, legislation introduced in 2018.

The family-run business sells, repairs and modifies weapons for its customers. Getty

Iraq has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world, a legacy of decades of war, from the rule of Saddam Hussein to the strife that followed the US-led invasion in 2003.

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi soldiers who served during the Baath regime kept their weapons after the US dissolved the Iraqi army.

Subsequent US and coalition attempts to re-equip a new Iraqi force were stymied by high rates of desertion and cases where soldiers and police sold their weapons on the black market.

This phenomenon was also reported in the Kurdish region during the war against ISIS, when a number of soldiers from the Kurdish Peshmerga security force were investigated after allegedly selling their weapons, following a delay in salary payments.

Before the 2003 invasion, the Kurdish region also suffered a civil war between its two main political parties, the Kurdish Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.

The region was allowed to maintain its own security policy in co-ordination with Baghdad, following Iraq's transformation to a federal system after 2003.

Since then, the government in Baghdad has struggled to control weapon ownership, particularly heavy weapons, including rocket launchers and heavy machine guns in the hands of tribes.

Iraqi government "buyback" efforts to limit tribal ownership of weapons in Iraq's south where tribal feuds frequently lead to fatal gun battles have had mixed results.

Updated: June 30, 2022, 2:23 PM

See the article here:
Kurdish region of Iraq bans gun sales after deadly shootings - The National

28 June 2022; Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Ministry of Planning, the Kurdistan Region Statistics Office and UNFPA launched today the results of the second Iraq Women Integrated Social and Health (IWISH) survey in the Kurdistan Region, conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Planning of the Federal Government and Central Statistical Organisation and with funding from Sweden.

The survey covers the topics of women empowerment, violence against women, early marriage, family planning and maternal health, COVID-19, education, employment and other relevant social factors influencing womens rights in Iraq. It also offers integrated data showing the change in women's economic and social status in Iraq since 2011.

Speaking at the event, Dr Dara Rasheed, Minister of Planning of the Kurdistan Regional Government, reiterated the importance of data and statistics and stated that: the Ministry of Planning prioritises making reliable data and new statistics available to governmental institutions to ensure that regulations and policies are developed based on evidence. We also encourage the government to utilise the data collected to develop their programmes and projects to empower women and girls in the Kurdistan Region.

Dr Rita Columbia, UNFPA Representative to Iraq, during the launch reiterated that availability and use of reliable data for policy and decision making is vital for the regional sustainable development, where the rights of all especially women and girls as the most vulnerable are protected and fulfilled.

The representatives of ministries in KRI, the High Council for Women Development, CSOs and international partners expressed their interest in studying the findings of the survey and using them for improving legislation, policies and programmes in KRI.

******

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, delivers a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young persons potential is fulfilled.

For more information or media inquiries please contact: Salwa Moussa, Communications Specialist, smoussa@unfpa.org

Read the original here:
Kurdistan Ministry of Planning, UNFPA launch results of the second Iraq Women Integrated Social and Health survey [EN/KU] - Iraq - ReliefWeb

The strangest things can happen in war, as Air Force Staff Sgt. Cesar Flores found out personally from the seat of a Humvee near Camp Bucca in southern Iraq 15 years ago. It was June 15, 2007, and Flores was part of a security forces convoy the Air Force equivalent of military police clearing the roads outside Camp Bucca of improvised explosive devices so that other convoys could get to the base safely.

Convoys werent the most dangerous mission. It was to go patrol the roads before they got there. That was the most dangerous mission, Flores said in a recent press release written by Airman 1st Class Miyah Gray. We were driving and a berm just went off. When the blast hit us, it knocked me unconscious.

What happened next not only saved Flores life, it also taught him a valuable lesson in leadership, which was why the airman shared his story with a group of colleagues at the 97th Air Mobility Wing, at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma earlier this month. Now a chief master sergeant, the highest enlisted rank in the service, Flores reminded listeners to get to know their airmen and accept that there are many ways to be a leader. Another airman seemed to agree with Flores.

Once you get to know someone and make a connection, youre able to forge a better relationship with them, said Tech. Sgt. Michael Voorhees, 97th Training Squadron student affairs noncommissioned officer in charge. Where that impacts the most is going to be when you get into stressful situations, particularly under fire, and you can rely on them because youve built them that foundation of trust.

Flores learned that lesson the hard way when he met Senior Airman Duane Dunlap during his 2007 Iraq tour. Dunlap was the gunner of Flores patrol group, but the two often butted heads.

He and I did not get along at all, said Flores. He tended to question everything. Back then, my one way of leading was to get in line or get off the bus, so we did not jive well.

Subscribe to Task & Purpose Today. Get the latest in military news, entertainment, and gear in your inbox daily.

Camp Bucca was no cakewalk. The base was at one point the largest U.S.-run prison facility in Iraq, holding 13,000 of a total of 19,000 detainees held at American facilities in the country, according to the BBC. On June 9, less than a week before the IED that hit Flores convoy went off, six prisoners were killed and at least 50 wounded when the base was hit by indirect fire. Many of the future leaders of the so-called Islamic State, including the groups first caliph, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, started sharing ideas and networking behind the camps walls. Ironically, it was Flores and his fellow airmens job to help guard the base that held these men. Against this backdrop, Flores relationship with Dunlap got so bad that Flores couldnt stand Dunlap and was about to fire him.

But then the IED went off, and Flores woke into a nightmare.

When I regained consciousness, it was hell on earth, he said. I was literally on fire. I smelled what I believe was white phosphorus. I heard someone screaming. It was Duane.

The explosion had caved in Flores door, pinning him to his seat. His weapon had also melted, so he was defenseless. The airman called for help, and he was surprised by who answered.

Dunlap had the presence of mind to grab me by the body armor and just pull until I came out of there and we were both laying down in the middle (of the vehicle), Flores said.

Flores crawled to the back of the Humvee, opened the rear door and rolled out, followed shortly after by Dunlap. Flores was covered with blood, but he soon realized it was not his own: it was Dunlaps.

He got hit by a piece of shrapnel the size of a baseball to his leg and still had the presence of mind to pull me out of my predicament, Flores said.

Another airman went on to clear the road on foot, a mortal risk if another IED went off, Flores explained. Meanwhile, a fourth airman with combat lifesaving experience, tended to Dunlaps wounds. The gunner was medically evacuated to Germany and then to the Brooke Army Medical Hospital in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, leaving Flores with a valuable lesson.

Duane Dunlap, the kid that I was about to fire, that I couldnt stand, ended up saving my life and being my angel in disguise, said Flores, who later received a Purple Heart for the attack that day 15 years ago.

I never took the time to know him past our trained duties and this became the primary reason I never really gave him a shot, he added. A tech sergeant select, high-speed leader not knowing their airman. That was embarrassing someone that I didnt think much of ended up being the reason why I can see my [family] every day.

Want to write for Task & Purpose? Click here. Or check out the latest stories on our homepage.

See more here:
I was literally on fire Airman recalls how an unlikely hero saved his life in Iraq - Task & Purpose

Brush Strokes Gallery in downtown Fredericksburg will feature the work of a dynamic and internationally recognized artist from Iraq: Hashim Al Samarrai.

In a show titled Crossroads: Where East Meets West, which was born from Al Samarrais desire to showcase his Middle Eastern culture beside the free-flowing American landscape, visitors will see 18 of his paintings. Most are for sale, but a few hail from personal collections and are being displayed specifically for the show.

Penny Parish, gallery president, said she was especially impressed by his versatility, but also his ability to capture the world as it exists in his own medium.

Art, like music, is a universal language, she said. You do not have to know words to appreciate talent and beauty. We hope visitors see that in Hashims work.

The exhibit will be displayed through July 31. It will open with a First Friday reception on July 1 from 5 to 9 p.m. The artist is expected to attend.

People are also reading

The works selected for the show are painted in oils and acrylics in his distinct style of realistic scenes with expressionistic colors, lush textures and playful light. Iraqs ancient ways of life, which have always been tied to the land, may be disappearing, but Al Samarrai has revived them in paintings such as Streets of Old Baghdad and works that convey the lonely challenges of the desert, such as Man of the Desert and Resting Place.

His travels in the United States have served as a beacon of hope and healing for him. In Virginia Gold, he captures the beauty of a sunset over the river, while Sunrise conveys the hope of a new day.

Al Samarrai hopes that his Crossroads exhibit will convey the message that, while Iraqi and American cultures may differ on the surface, a shared heart of resilience and common humanity beats at their core and we can recognize the beauty in the other.

A guest exhibitor to the gallery, Al Samarrais paintings have been featured in several American and Middle Eastern galleries and his commissions are found in personal collections throughout the world.

He is a lifelong student of art, but also of history, and Al Samarrai has always found inspiration in Iraqi history and old traditions. He and his work have borne witness as back-to-back wars destroyed the cultural heritage and natural resources of Iraq.

He graduated first in his class from the Baghdad Institute of Fine Arts in 1991, just after the Gulf War. During the crushing economic sanctions that followed the war, canvas and paint were impossible to find. So, he fashioned canvasses out of worn cloth, stretched and painted with makeshift white paint. He was able to harness the inherent roughness of his homemade canvasses to create rich texture and depth in his paintings.

His love of texture began long before that, though. Al Samarrai was born in Samarra, Iraq in 1969, one of ten children. He described knowing he was an artist by age three, always with a pen and paper in hand. He was once so taken by the way the light hit his eggs in the morning, he ran to get his pencils and completely forgot to eat.

When reflecting on his career as an artist, but specifically during the past 19 war-torn years, Hashim said, Unquestionably, painting breathes air into my lungs and allows me to separate myself from my bitter surroundings and remain optimistic. It allows me to press forward amidst a life marred by fear, debilitating uncertainty, and terror. Like a delicate butterfly, painting gives me wings strong enough to float above the chaos. I dream and work toward opportunities to break the chains that tether me from expanding my talent and sharing my gifts with the world.

Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly!

See the original post here:
Brush Strokes Gallery to feature works by internationally recognized artist from Iraq - Culpeper Star-Exponent

The situation facing todays global energy markets is already tough. Now, Iraq, a country that contains close to 10 per cent of the world's proven oil reserves, is having to deal with the constant threat of attacks against its facilities.

In March, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired 12 ballistic missiles at the Kurdistan region, hitting the home of businessman Baz Karim, whose company KAR Group operates the largest oil refinery in the region. Tehran claimed that the site was an Israeli "strategic centre". Militants have at various points been blamed for other attacks in the region.

But last week was especially bad. On Wednesday, two contractors were wounded in a missile attack near the Khor Mor gasfield, also in the Kurdistan region. A second attack took place on Friday, and a third on Saturday. In a statement, Masrour Barzani, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), stressed the importance of security co-operation with Baghdad to fill the "security vacuum" surrounding the region. Iraqi President Barham Salih said that the assaults are "targeting the countrys stability and hitting the national economy".

Iraq faces a number of other severe issues, including drought. AFP

Finding a lasting solution to this multifaceted threat is complex, and there is no comprehensive one. Companies and authorities are fortifying sites, but a large part of the threat posed by missiles and drones, even the cheapest ones, is that they are hard to intercept. Swathes of contested ground in the country provide ample launching spots.

There is, however, one elusive requirement that goes deeper than more security forces, reinforced concrete, roadblocks and air defence systems. A key reason Iraq remains powerless in the face of attacks on its interests is political paralysis in Baghdad. National elections took place in October, yet factions are still arguing over the formation of a government. A key aggravating factor is that Iran-backed groups fared badly, which some say is pushing Tehran to use violent intimidation tactics in other regions, such as the KRG.

That is only part of the political problem. Another complication in securing more domestic co-operation in the face of such threats is constitutional and legal disagreements between the KRG and Baghdad over the manner in which the former a semi-autonomous zone manages its energy resources with the federal government. Much like with forming a government, no immediate end is in sight, but there is an urgent need for action.

Editorials from The National

The most pressing work to be carried is not by soldiers, then, but politicians. They are not doing it quickly enough, and history gives little hope that the pace will pick up anytime soon. Until then, there is only so much the country can do to defend itself against destructive elements both at home and abroad. With this in mind, Iraqi politicians from all quarters, should drop internal, tactical and political aims for wider strategic ones. Unity will not end foreign interference, but it will help Iraq stand up to it.

The World Bank says that oil represents more than 40 per cent of the country's GDP, 99 per cent of its exports and more than 90 per cent of government revenue, despite the need to diversify the economy. Those numbers rise above political divisions. They are about the very future of the country, which is already battling terrifying challenges such as water shortages, disease and the risk of increased militant activity, to name only a few.

Published: June 28, 2022, 3:00 AM

The rest is here:
The best way Iraq can protect its oil industry - The National