Condolences Pour in from Across the Globe over Iraq Fire Tragedy

An exterior view of the hall where a fire broke out during a wedding ceremony in Al-Hamdaniya town, northern Iraq, 27 September 2023. (EPA)
An exterior view of the hall where a fire broke out during a wedding ceremony in Al-Hamdaniya town, northern Iraq, 27 September 2023. (EPA)
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Condolences Pour in from Across the Globe over Iraq Fire Tragedy

An exterior view of the hall where a fire broke out during a wedding ceremony in Al-Hamdaniya town, northern Iraq, 27 September 2023. (EPA)
An exterior view of the hall where a fire broke out during a wedding ceremony in Al-Hamdaniya town, northern Iraq, 27 September 2023. (EPA)

The Saudi Foreign Ministry expressed on Wednesday its sincerest condolences to the Iraqi government and people, as well as the relatives of the victims, over the Nineveh fire that killed over 100 people.

The ministry underscored the Kingdom’s solidarity with Iraq and its people, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

A fire ripped through a packed wedding hall in northern Iraq late on Tuesday, killing more than 100 people.

Fire fighters searched the charred remains of the building in Qaraqosh, also known as Al-Hamdaniya, through Wednesday morning and bereaved relatives gathered outside a morgue in the nearby city of Mosul.

The US Ambassador to Iraq Alina Romanowski offered her condolences.

“We stand by the Iraqis in their grief for the victims and the injured at Al-Hamdaniya wedding,” Romanowski said in a post on the X platform.

The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said it was “shocked and pained by the horrible loss of life and injuries in the fire in Ninenveh’s Al-Hamdaniya. An immense tragedy.”

“Our sincere condolences to the families who lost loved ones. We wish the injured a speedy recovery,” it added on the X platform.

The European Union mission in Iraq offered its condolences, saying its hearts were with the families of the victims.

It expressed its solidarity with Iraq and wished the injured a speedy recovery.

The spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Ahmed Abou Zeid, said Cairo stands by Iraq, its government and people in wake of the tragedy.

Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri sent a cable to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and his counterpart Mohammed al-Halbousi to offer his condolences.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and spokesman of the Iranian Foreign Ministry Nasser Kanaani all offered their condolences.

Kanaani added that Iran was ready to treat the wounded.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Iraq stressed the need for the concerned authorities to dedicate all efforts and means to help the victims and their relatives.

It urged the need to open a probe into the accident and bring those responsible to justice.

It also called for ensuring that all public and private buildings meet safety standards to avoid such tragedies from taking place again in the future.



Türkiye Says It Believes Kurdish Fighters Will Be Forced Out of All Syrian Territory

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler takes part in a NATO Defense Ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 12, 2023. (Reuters)
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler takes part in a NATO Defense Ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 12, 2023. (Reuters)
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Türkiye Says It Believes Kurdish Fighters Will Be Forced Out of All Syrian Territory

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler takes part in a NATO Defense Ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 12, 2023. (Reuters)
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler takes part in a NATO Defense Ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 12, 2023. (Reuters)

Türkiye believes Syria's new rulers, including the Syrian National Army (SNA) armed group which Ankara backs, will drive Kurdish YPG fighters from all territory they occupy in northeastern Syria, Defense Minister Yasar Guler said on Sunday.

Türkiye regards the Syrian YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought an insurgency against the Turkish state for 40 years and are deemed terrorists by Ankara, Washington, and the European Union.

The YPG spearheads an alliance, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is backed by the United States and controls territory in northeastern Syria. Since the fall of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, Türkiye and Syrian groups it backs have fought against the SDF, seizing the city of Manbij.

"We believe that the new leadership in Syria and the Syrian National Army, which is an important part of its army, along with the Syrian people, will free all territories occupied by terrorist organizations," Guler said during a visit to Turkish troops on the Syrian border with military commanders.

"We will also take every necessary measure with the same determination until all terrorist elements beyond our borders are cleared," he said in a video released by his ministry.

Ankara has demanded the Syrian Kurdish fighters disband, and has called on Washington to withdraw its support. The US military acknowledged last week it has 2,000 troops on the ground in Syria, twice as many as it had said previously.

On Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Türkiye would do "whatever it takes" to ensure its security if Syria's new administration was unable to address its concerns.