Officials: Civilians Among 10 Dead In Iraq Attack Blamed on ISIS

Military vehicles of the Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) are seen during the fight with ISIS fighters in Tal Afar, Iraq, August 25, 2017.Reuters
Military vehicles of the Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) are seen during the fight with ISIS fighters in Tal Afar, Iraq, August 25, 2017.Reuters
TT

Officials: Civilians Among 10 Dead In Iraq Attack Blamed on ISIS

Military vehicles of the Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) are seen during the fight with ISIS fighters in Tal Afar, Iraq, August 25, 2017.Reuters
Military vehicles of the Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) are seen during the fight with ISIS fighters in Tal Afar, Iraq, August 25, 2017.Reuters

At least three civilians and seven Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters have been killed in northern Iraq in an attack blamed on ISIS, the forces said Friday.

The militants attacked the village of Khidir Jija, south of Erbil, late Thursday, killing three civilians, a statement said.

The peshmerga, Kurdistan's armed forces, launched an operation in response, and seven fighters died when "an explosive device planted by ISIS elements" blew up.

The three civilians, siblings aged 11-24, were children of a village official, a relative told AFP.

ISIS seized swathes of Iraq in a lightning offensive in 2014, before being beaten back by a counter-insurgency campaign supported by a US-led military coalition.

The Iraqi government declared the ISIS group defeated in late 2017, but the militants retain sleeper cells which continue to strike security forces with hit-and-run attacks.

Late last month, five Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters were killed and four wounded in a roadside bombing claimed by ISIS.

That bombing, south of the city of Sulaimaniyah, underlined the "serious threat" ISIS still poses to the Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, the region's prime minister Masrour Barzani said at the time.



Weaponization of Food in Gaza Constitutes War Crime, UN Rights Office Says

A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches among the ruins of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardments in west of Gaza City, Saturday, June 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches among the ruins of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardments in west of Gaza City, Saturday, June 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
TT

Weaponization of Food in Gaza Constitutes War Crime, UN Rights Office Says

A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches among the ruins of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardments in west of Gaza City, Saturday, June 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches among the ruins of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardments in west of Gaza City, Saturday, June 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

The UN human rights office said on Tuesday that the "weaponization" of food for civilians in Gaza constitutes a war crime, in its strongest remarks yet on a new model of aid distribution run by an Israeli-backed organization.

Over 410 people have been killed by gunshots or shells fired by the Israeli military while trying to reach distribution sites of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation since it began work in late May, UN human rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan told reporters at a Geneva press briefing.

The death toll has been independently verified by his office, he added.

"Desperate, hungry people in Gaza continue to face the inhumane choice of either starving to death or risk being killed while trying to get food," he said, describing the system as "Israel's militarized humanitarian assistance mechanism".

"The weaponization of food for civilians, in addition to restricting or preventing their access to life-sustaining services, constitutes a war crime and, under certain circumstances, may constitute elements of other crimes under international law."

Asked whether Israel was guilty of that war crime, he said: "The legal qualification needs to be made by a court of law."

Israel rejects war crimes charges in Gaza and blames Hamas fighters for harm to civilians for operating among them, which the fighters deny.