عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Abadi: We Will Pay Salaries of Peshmerga, Kurdistan Employees

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. AFP file photo
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. AFP file photo
TT
TT

Abadi: We Will Pay Salaries of Peshmerga, Kurdistan Employees

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. AFP file photo
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. AFP file photo

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced on Tuesday that his government plans to pay soon the salaries of Kurdish Peshmerga forces and public servants who are on the payroll of the Kurdistan Regional Government.

“We will soon be able to pay all the salaries of the Peshmerga and the employees of the region,” Abadi said during a press conference.

Meanwhile, the administration of the international Ibrahim Khalil crossing between the Kurdistan Region, Iraq and Turkey denied on Tuesday the deployment of any Iraqi armed units from the Iraqi side of the crossing, adding that conditions there were very normal with no changes in its administration.

Ibrahim Khalil border crossing Security Director Abdul Wahab Mohammed told Asharq Al-Awsat: “The crossing is still under the administration of the Kurdistan Regional Government. There is no presence of any employee from the Iraqi government in the crossing, and there were no changes in the administration.”

He said that Iraqi Army Chief of Staff Othman al-Ghanimi and head of the intelligence had visited the crossing on Tuesday morning on their way to Turkey. He said both men travelled to Turkey to check on the Iraqi soldiers currently present in the Turkish side of the border.

“The passage of the Iraqi military delegation through the Ibrahim Khalil crossing was held in coordination with the Peshmerga forces.

Mohammed also said that the Iraqi flag was always flying at the border crossing next to the flag of the Kurdistan Region.

Earlier, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that the Iraqi central government has been handed over the Habur border gate.

“We will start to put into action another border gate through Tal Afar in the short term, in agreement with the Iraqi government,” Yildirim said.

Tal Afar is located some 40 kilometers west of Mosul.

Separately, the Iraqi cabinet voted Tuesday on a decision to hold the next parliamentary elections next May 15.

“Voting must be electronic, and parties participating in the election must not have armed wings," the government said in a statement.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Drone Strikes on Sudan Markets Kill 33

Smoke billows over buildings in Khartoum on May 1, 2023 as deadly clashes between rival generals' forces have entered their third week.(Photo by AFP)
Smoke billows over buildings in Khartoum on May 1, 2023 as deadly clashes between rival generals' forces have entered their third week.(Photo by AFP)
TT
TT

Drone Strikes on Sudan Markets Kill 33

Smoke billows over buildings in Khartoum on May 1, 2023 as deadly clashes between rival generals' forces have entered their third week.(Photo by AFP)
Smoke billows over buildings in Khartoum on May 1, 2023 as deadly clashes between rival generals' forces have entered their third week.(Photo by AFP)

A drone attack hit two markets in RSF-controlled towns in southwest Sudan, killing 33 people, a medical source told AFP on Sunday.

The strikes targeted the markets of Abu Zabad and Wad Banda in West Kordofan state -- part of the resource-rich Kordofan region that is currently the fiercest battlefield in the nearly three-year war between Sudan's army and the Rapid Support Forces.

A doctor at Abu Zabad hospital, one of the few medical facilities still serving the area, said two drones struck the markets on Saturday, injuring 59 people.

Speaking via a Starlink connection and requesting anonymity, the doctor said 30 of the wounded remain receiving treatment. The two towns lie roughly 15 kilometres (9 miles) apart.

A resident of Abu Zabad town, Hamad Abdullah, said he helped bury 20 people on Saturday following what he described as an army drone strike on the town's market.

"Four of them were my relatives who worked in the market," he told AFP.

A military source rejected the accusations, telling AFP that the "armed forces do not bombard civilian areas".

"This is a lie with no basis. We only target rebels, their equipment and their weapons depots," the source said, requesting anonymity because they are not authorised to brief the media.

Since war broke out in April 2023, both sides have been accused of war crimes including targeting civilians and indiscriminately shelling residential areas.

The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced more than 11 million and fuelled what the United Nations describes as the world's largest displacement and hunger crises.

Arab World

Lebanese Health Ministry Says Death Toll from Israeli Strikes up to 394

The son of a Lebanese soldier, cries as he sits on his father's coffin who was killed by Israeli airstrikes, during a funeral procession in Khraibeh village, eastern Lebanon, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
The son of a Lebanese soldier, cries as he sits on his father's coffin who was killed by Israeli airstrikes, during a funeral procession in Khraibeh village, eastern Lebanon, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
TT
TT

Lebanese Health Ministry Says Death Toll from Israeli Strikes up to 394

The son of a Lebanese soldier, cries as he sits on his father's coffin who was killed by Israeli airstrikes, during a funeral procession in Khraibeh village, eastern Lebanon, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
The son of a Lebanese soldier, cries as he sits on his father's coffin who was killed by Israeli airstrikes, during a funeral procession in Khraibeh village, eastern Lebanon, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Israeli strikes on Lebanon have killed 394 people over the past week, including 83 children and 42 women, the health minister said Sunday, after Israel expanded its attacks to a hotel in central Beirut.

Health minister Rakan Nassereddine said at a press conference that nine rescue workers were among the 394 dead in Lebanon, condemning attacks on medical teams and ambulances.

"These are civilians being targeted, not, as they claim, military personnel and military installations. They are targeting homes, paramedics and the health sector," Nassereddine said, adding "the pace of the massacres has increased in the past 48 hours".

"Medical teams and ambulances are under attack, this is unacceptable."

A previous toll announced on Saturday by the minister had put the number of dead at 294.

Israel never fully halted its strikes targeting Hezbollah despite a 2024 ceasefire that sought to end their last round of fighting, which broke out in 2023 when the group attacked Israel in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas in Gaza.

Since Hezbollah's latest attack on Monday, Israel has launched multiple waves of strikes across Lebanon and sent ground troops into border areas.

Early Sunday, the Lebanese health ministry said an Israeli airstrike hit a hotel room in Beirut's city center, killing four people and wounding 10 others.

Israel's military said it had "conducted a precise strike targeting key commanders" in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, its foreign operations arm.

In Ghazieh, southern Lebanon, an Israeli attack flattened a building, with an AFP correspondent seeing destroyed solar panels above it and rescuers searching through the debris.

In Sir al-Gharbiyeh, the health ministry said at least 11 people were killed in Israeli morning strikes on the village.

The toll included children, with the minister adding that "there are still people trapped under the rubble".

Standing next to a destroyed home, resident Ali Youssef Taha told AFP that "a family was sleeping inside" before "Israeli warplanes bombed the building, resulting in a massacre".

Mayor Saadallah Mohammed Maatouk said around 500 families were staying in the town.

"What happened will not deter us, and we remain steadfast," he said.

On Sunday, the Israeli military reiterated its call for residents south of Lebanon's Litani river, around 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of the Israeli border, to flee the area.

Sir al-Gharbiyeh is located just above the river, and Ghazieh is further north on the coast.

Israel's military, meanwhile, said Sunday that two of its soldiers were killed in combat in southern Lebanon, the first of its troops to have died since the latest offensive began on March 2.

Arab World

Arab League Chief Says Iran Attacks on Member States 'Reckless'

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
TT
TT

Arab League Chief Says Iran Attacks on Member States 'Reckless'

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

The Arab League's secretary-general said Sunday that Iranian attacks on several member states were "reckless", urging Tehran to reverse what he called a "massive strategic mistake".

Addressing an emergency videoconference of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, Ahmed Aboul Gheit said the strikes "cannot be justified under any pretext or excuse", and repaid peace efforts by Gulf countries with "treacherous rockets and drone strikes".