Iraq Violence

Obama seeks Security Council meet on threat of 'foreign fighters' in terror groups

US President Barack Obama will convene a Security Council summit on "growing and dangerous phenomenon" of foreign terrorist fighters, American envoy to the UN Samantha Power said on Wednesday.

Islamic State abducted Yazidi women, guilty of war crimes: Amnesty

Amnesty International said ISIL abducted "hundreds, if not thousands" of women and girls of the Yazidi faith. The extremists also killed "hundreds" of Yazidi men and boys.

US journalist Sotloff's beheading leaves Ban Ki-moon outraged

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday the world was "outraged" at what appeared to be the beheading of a second US journalist in a video released by Islamic State (IS) militants.

How Middle East channels are mocking Islamic State militants with satire

Television networks across the Middle East have begun airing cartoons and comedy programs using satire to criticise the group and its claims of representing Islam.

Rooting out a cancer like ISIL will not be quick or easy, says Obama

Terming the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as a "cancer", US President Barack Obama has said that the top American priority was to roll back the gains made by the terrorist outfit in Iraq.

ISIS holds journalist hostage: Paying ransom will endanger Americans, says US

The US has said payment of routine ransom to terrorist only puts other innocent American citizens at risk while defending its decision to swap five Taliban prisoners with the kidnapped soldiers in Afghanistan.

We failed to prevent Iraq, Syria violence: UN rights chief flays Security Council

In her last address to the Security Council, the UN human rights chief sharply criticized the body for its ineffectiveness on Syria and other intractable conflicts, saying its members have often put national interests ahead of stopping mass atrocities.

Pope Francis calls James Foley's family

Pope Francis has called the family of an American journalist whose videotaped beheading by Islamic State militants has touched off torrents of outrage around the world.

Iraq: Yazidis fear for thousands kidnapped by ISIS jihadists

In Iraq, Yazidis fleeing a jihadist offensive say members of their families - men, women and even babies - have been abducted by militants.

Bombs targeting Shias leave 49 dead in Iraq

Bombs exploded in predominantly Shi'ite Muslim districts of the Iraqi capital and in the southern city of Hilla on Tuesday, killing at least 49 people, police and hospital sources said.