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Iraq Keeps COVID Restrictions Over Low Vaccination Rates

Mourners react next to the coffins of victims, who were killed in a fire that broke out at al-Hussain coronavirus hospital in Nassiriya, during a funeral in Najaf, Iraq, July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani
Mourners react next to the coffins of victims, who were killed in a fire that broke out at al-Hussain coronavirus hospital in Nassiriya, during a funeral in Najaf, Iraq, July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani
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Iraq Keeps COVID Restrictions Over Low Vaccination Rates

Mourners react next to the coffins of victims, who were killed in a fire that broke out at al-Hussain coronavirus hospital in Nassiriya, during a funeral in Najaf, Iraq, July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani
Mourners react next to the coffins of victims, who were killed in a fire that broke out at al-Hussain coronavirus hospital in Nassiriya, during a funeral in Najaf, Iraq, July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani

Iraq’s Ministry of Health and Environment has stressed that only increased vaccinations would pave way for easing coronavirus-related restrictions.

Director-General of Public Health Riyad Abdel Amir ruled out lifting the COVID-19 curbs, saying Iraq hasn’t yet reached the required rates of vaccination against the disease.

In statements to the Iraqi News Agency (INA), he said countries that lifted the restrictions have witnessed a surge in inoculations.

On Sunday, the Ministry of Health said it recorded a significant drop in coronavirus-related deaths during the last 24 hours. A total of 18 died, bringing the death toll to 22,756.

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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.