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Int’l Coalition Reaffirms Support for Iraq

The Iraqi army launches an operation to hunt down ISIS cells (AFP)
The Iraqi army launches an operation to hunt down ISIS cells (AFP)
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Int’l Coalition Reaffirms Support for Iraq

The Iraqi army launches an operation to hunt down ISIS cells (AFP)
The Iraqi army launches an operation to hunt down ISIS cells (AFP)

The US-led International Coalition against ISIS in Iraq and Syria has renewed its support for Iraq as US forces begin their gradual withdrawal from the Levantine country.

The fourth round of meetings of the Joint Technical Committee between Iraq and the US had kicked off in Baghdad on Friday with the Joint Operations Command of the Iraqi Army saying that a security agreement had been signed to reduce the combat units and military forces in each of the two bases of Ain al-Assad in western Iraq’s Anbar province, and Harir in the Kurdistan region near Erbil.

Meanwhile, the Coalition said Saturday it carried out raids targeting sites of the terrorist organization on the outskirts of Kifri district in the Sulaymaniyah province in northern Iraq.

“Coalition warplanes carried out three air strikes targeting terrorist hideouts in the Koh mountain range near Nogol district in Kifri district,” according to a security source who requested anonymity.

“French warplanes bombed a location where the terrorists were hiding, near the village of Qalan, according to intelligence information,” said the source.

Earlier Saturday, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense said in a statement that security forces had arrested an ISIS member in the Al-Mushahdah district, north of the capital Baghdad.

In a Twitter post, military spokesman, Col. Wayne Marotto, said the Coalition is committed to supporting both the Iraqi security forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga forces in their fight against ISIS and to ensure that the group “never resurges.”

It is noteworthy that the Coalition’s stand in solidarity with Iraq comes at a time that ISIS is waging several operations in different parts of the country, even in areas near the capital, Baghdad.

While the Iraqi government had concluded a truce with Iran-aligned armed factions to ensure they no longer target US troops in Iraq, the most important development remains Baghdad’s agreement with Washington to cut back the number of forces in Ain al-Assad in western Iraq’s Anbar province, and Harir in the Kurdistan region near Erbil.

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Sudan's RSF Conducts First Drone Attack on Port Sudan

Smoke rises from the airport of Port Sudan following reported attacks early on May 4, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Smoke rises from the airport of Port Sudan following reported attacks early on May 4, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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Sudan's RSF Conducts First Drone Attack on Port Sudan

Smoke rises from the airport of Port Sudan following reported attacks early on May 4, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Smoke rises from the airport of Port Sudan following reported attacks early on May 4, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out a drone attack on a military air base and other facilities in the vicinity of Port Sudan Airport, a Sudanese army spokesperson said on Sunday, in the first RSF attack to reach the eastern port city.
No casualties were reported from the attacks, the spokesperson said.
The RSF has not commented on the incident, Reuters said.
The RSF has targeted power stations in army-controlled locations in central and northern Sudan for the past several months but the strikes had not inflicted heavy casualties.
The drone attack on Port Sudan indicates a major shift in the two-year conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF. The eastern regions, which shelter a large number of displaced people, had so far avoided bombardment.
The army has responded by beefing up its deployment around vital facilities in Port Sudan and has closed roads leading to the presidential palace and army command.
Port Sudan, home to the country's primary airport, army headquarters and a seaport, has been perceived as the safest place in the war-ravaged nation.
In March, the army ousted the RSF from its last footholds in Khartoum, Sudan's capital, but the paramilitary RSF holds some areas in Omdurman, directly across the Nile River, and has consolidated its position in west Sudan, splitting the nation into rival zones.
The conflict between the army and the RSF has unleashed waves of ethnic violence and created what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with several areas plunged into famine.
The war erupted in April 2023 amid a power struggle between the army and RSF ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule. It ruined much of Khartoum, uprooted more than 12 million Sudanese from their homes and left about half of the 50 million population suffering from acute hunger.
Overall deaths are hard to estimate but a study published last year said the toll may have reached 61,000 in Khartoum state alone in the first 14 months of the conflict.