Iraq PM Accuses ‘Terrorists’ of Targeting Electricity Poles

Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. Reuters
Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. Reuters
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Iraq PM Accuses ‘Terrorists’ of Targeting Electricity Poles

Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. Reuters
Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. Reuters

The Iraqi government announced on Thursday the use of drones to protect power towers, which were recently targeted with the onset of rising temperatures.

Over the past two years, drones were used by pro-Iranian armed factions to target US forces, or by unknown parties targeting brigades, headquarters, and figures affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Forces.

However, with the sharp rise in temperatures in Iraq, terrorists, as described by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, began attacking transmission towers, which led to a sharp decline in power supply.

During a meeting of the national security ministerial council, Kadhimi announced his government’s success in providing power, but he mentioned "a repeated and intentional targeting of electrical towers in a number of provinces that affects the hours of supply.”

In an attempt to limit the targeting of energy towers, the Iraqi government is using drones to protect the towers and identify the parties behind the attacks.

Political observers did not rule out a role by ISIS.

Meanwhile, the Federal Intelligence and Investigations Agency in the Ministry of Interior announced the arrest of nine terrorists, including a woman, in Kirkuk.

Those were detained pursuant to arrest warrants against them under the provisions of Article 4 of the Anti-Terrorism Law, the statement said.



Italy's ITA Airways Resumes Flights to Libya's Tripoli after 10-year Gap

An Italian carrier Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA Airways) plane takes off at Fiumicino airport in Rome, Italy, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo
An Italian carrier Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA Airways) plane takes off at Fiumicino airport in Rome, Italy, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo
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Italy's ITA Airways Resumes Flights to Libya's Tripoli after 10-year Gap

An Italian carrier Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA Airways) plane takes off at Fiumicino airport in Rome, Italy, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo
An Italian carrier Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA Airways) plane takes off at Fiumicino airport in Rome, Italy, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo

Italy's ITA Airways resumed direct flights to Libya's Tripoli on Sunday, the first airline from a major west European nation to do so after a 10-year hiatus due to civil war in the north African country, ITA and Tripoli's transport minister said.

ITA said it would operate two direct flights a week from Rome's Fiumicino airport to Tripoli's Mitiga airport, Reuters reported.

“We are proud to inaugurate today our first direct commercial flight between Tripoli and Rome Fiumicino, strengthening commercial and cultural ties between Libya and Italy in support of bilateral relations between the two countries,” Andrea Benassi, ITA airways general manager, said in a statement.

Many international airlines have suspended flights in and out of Libya since the civil war in 2014 that spawned two rival administrations in east and west following the NATO-backed uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Some airlines resumed flights to Libya after security was restored when major fighting paused with a ceasefire in 2020. But efforts to end the political crisis have failed, with factions occasionally staging armed clashes and competing for control over economic resources.

The European Union still bans Libyan civil aviation from its airspace

The minister of transport in the government of national unity, Mohamed al-Shahoubi, said the resumption of ITA flights between Tripoli and Rome confirmed "the safety and security of our airspace and the eligibility of Libyan airports".

Shahoubi said at a ceremony marking the arrival of the ITA flight at Mitiga that Tripoli is ready "to grant ITA additional transport rights to connect Libyan airports with other destinations in European Union countries."