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A report into the Iraq Historical Allegations Team (IHAT), which investigates claims alleging that UK troops engaged in abuse and torture in Iraq, will call for the initiative to be replaced by a military-led team.

The report due out next week is fronted by former soldier turned Tory MP Johnny Mercer, who has been a leading critic of investigations into potential war crimes.

However, the Sun newspaper appears to have discovered some of the reports findings ahead of publication.

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This includes the assertion that IHAT should be replaced by a military team, meaning that the Armed Forces would investigate themselves.

I am clear where the problems lie, Mercer, who chairs the defense committee producing the report, told the Sun.

There is a rotten core of civil servants who made decisions without Ministers or military input, he said.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) defended IHAT, telling the paper: The government is legally obliged to investigate criminal allegations and the courts are clear that if IHAT did not exist, British troops could be dragged through international courts.

Were committed to reducing IHATs caseload to a small number of credible cases as quickly as possible, it said.

However, the ministry added that they were determined to clamp down on spurious legal claims against our troops and tackle the likes of Phil Shiner, who have abused our legal system.

Last week, Phil Shiner, a lawyer and professor, was struck off the solicitors register after admitting to numerous counts of misconduct.

Shiner had previously been head of Public Interest Lawyers, a now-defunct firm that was responsible for bringing many cases of abuse against UK troops on behalf of Iraqi citizens.

The only conviction to have emerged from IHAT so far is that of one of its own investigators, a retired police officer who tried to use an expired police warrant card to access a UK military facility in 2011, but was refused entry at the gate, according to documents seen by the Telegraph.

The Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) were contacted and he was suspended from IHAT duty either the same day or the day after. He was subsequently charged by the MDP and convicted at a Magistrates Court, the records claim.

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Military should investigate itself, Iraq abuse report will urge - RT

Middle East Eye

US dividing Iraq from Syria with border air strikes against IS Middle East Eye The United States has recently been targeting Islamic State militants in the desert region on the Iraq-Syria border in an effort to re-separate the two countries. The campaign has resulted in the killing of civilian farmers and nomads. Pan-Arab daily ...

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US dividing Iraq from Syria with border air strikes against IS - Middle East Eye

Key points:

As the Mosul operation has intensified, food security has deteriorated for IDPs, returnees and resident households in surveyed sub-districts.

Over 40 percent of households in Telafar had poor or borderline food consumption and used negative coping strategies in December. Most of the households interviewed were recent returnees.

Access to the Public Distribution System remains very poor in conflict-affected areas and among displaced families.

Situation Update

As the Mosul offensive continues, IOM reports that an estimated 132,000 people have been displaced by the ongoing military operations, which began on 17 October. More than 1 million people are thought to remain cut off from humanitarian assistance in Mosul city. Around 114,000 people are sheltering in camps and emergency sites to the south and east of Mosul city but these facilities have almost reached their maximum capacity. Government and humanitarian actors are responding urgently to increase camp capacity and humanitarian assistance.

Military encirclement and the destruction of bridges connecting the east and west banks of the Tigris river are of growing concern as they affect access and supply routes to the western side of the city, where an estimated 750,000 people reside. UNHCR reports that in the west of Mosul supply routes have been cut off and the prices of basic necessities have surged, particularly for fuel and food. However, it is extremely difficult to obtain reliable information from Mosul city. WFP has increased the coverage of mVAM to include the city, which will be reported on in the January mVAM bulletin.

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Iraq - mVAM Bulletin #24: January 2017; Returnees to Telafar liberated areas face rising food insecurity - Reliefweb

Iraqs southern crude oil exports dropped in January from a record high a month before as the country implements output cuts agreed by OPEC and other major producers to curb the global glut. The nations exports decreased 187,000 barrels a day to 3.323 million barrels a day in January from the previous month, according to a person familiar with the matter, who did not want to be identified because the data is not public, Bloomberg reported. Shipments in January from the South Oil Co. were 3.278 million barrels a day and exports from the North Oil Co. 45,000 barrels a day, the person said. Iraqs exports from the south had risen to a record average of 3.51 million barrels a day in December, Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi said last month. OPEC and 11 other oil producing countries including Russia agreed late last year to cut a combined 1.8 million barrels a day of output for six months starting from January, with Iraqs share set at 210,000 bpd. Some analysts have expressed doubts on whether Iraq would deliver its share of the cuts, potentially undermining the drive to rebalance the market and drain inventories bloated by two years of unfettered production that helped to crash prices. During the months of negotiation that led to Novembers OPEC agreement, Iraq had insisted repeatedly that it should be exempted from cuts as it battles the so-called Islamic State insurgency and rehabilitates its oil industry after years of war and sanctions. The country also disputed the data to be used in any discussions, insisting that numbers compiled by OPEC underestimated Iraqi production by about 5%. Iraq ultimately agreed to reduce its output. The Arab nation was close to implementing its share of the agreed production cuts and would be in full compliance by the end of the month, al-Luaibi said on Jan. 23. The N0.2 OPEC producer had already reduced output by 180,000 barrels a day and would cut another 30,000 bpd soon, the minister said in a Bloomberg television interview.

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Iraq's South Oil Exports Decline - Financial Tribune

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Feb. 4, 2017 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Iraq and Syria yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Attack, bomber and fighter aircraft and rocket artillery conducted 31 strikes in 45 engagements in Syria:

-- Near Abu Kamal, seven strikes destroyed 14 oil wellheads and two oil refinement stills.

-- Near Bab, three strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units; destroyed two tactical vehicles, two heavy machine guns and two fighting positions; and damaged a command and control node.

-- Near Idlib, a strike destroyed a fighting position.

-- Near Raqqa, 20 strikes engaged four ISIL tactical units; destroyed 11 oil tanker trucks, six oil barrels, three oil refinement stills, two fighting positions, two tunnels, two vehicles, an ISIL headquarters, an oil storage tank and a command and control node; and damaged 16 supply routes.

Strikes in Iraq

Attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft and rocket artillery conducted seven strikes in 18 engagements in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraqs government:

-- Near Huwayjah, a strike destroyed an improvised explosive device factory.

-- Near Irbil, a strike destroyed a front-end loader and a dump truck.

-- Near Mosul, five strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units; destroyed eight watercraft, three vehicle bombs, two barges, a vehicle and an artillery system; damaged three supply routes; and suppressed a mortar team.

Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

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Airstrikes Continue Against ISIL Terrorists in Syria, Iraq > U.S. ... - Department of Defense