ISIS has lost half its territory in Iraq
Thomson Reuters
Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken also announced $181 million to address a humanitarian crisis that has festered in Iraq despite progress on the battlefield. More than 3.3 million Iraqis remain displaced from their homes due to violence, according to the United Nations.
Despite a series of major defeats in recent months, IS still controls Mosul, Iraq's second largest city. Iraq hopes to launch an operation to retake Mosul this year, which U.N. and U.S. officials say could displace another 1 million people.
Blinken said the way authorities handle the potential displacement in Mosul will be an important "test case" for lasting political reconciliation in the country. Iraq remains deeply divided, with many in the Sunni minority viewing the Shiite-led government with suspicion and ethnic Kurds in the north pursuing greater autonomy.
"The painstaking work of reconciliation and governance... will ensure that Daesh, once defeated, stays defeated," Blinken said, using an Arabic acronym for IS.
The extremist group swept across northern and western Iraq in the summer of 2014, and at that time many Sunnis welcomed IS as an alternative to what they saw as the increasingly sectarian rule of then-Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
At the height of its power, IS ruled a self-declared caliphate stretching across a third of Iraq as well as large swathes of neighboring Syria.
- A couple accidentally shipped their cat in an Amazon return package. It arrived safely 6 days later, hundreds of miles away.
- A centenarian who starts her day with gentle exercise and loves walks shares 5 longevity tips, including staying single
- 2 states where home prices are falling because there are too many houses and not enough buyers
- "To sit and talk in the box...!" Kohli's message to critics as RCB wrecks GT in IPL Match 45
- 7 Nutritious and flavourful tiffin ideas to pack for school
- India's e-commerce market set to skyrocket as the country's digital economy surges to USD 1 Trillion by 2030
- Top 5 places to visit near Rishikesh
- Indian economy remains in bright spot: Ministry of Finance
- JNK India IPO allotment date
- JioCinema New Plans
- Realme Narzo 70 Launched
- Apple Let Loose event
- Elon Musk Apology
- RIL cash flows
- Charlie Munger
- Feedbank IPO allotment
- Tata IPO allotment
- Most generous retirement plans
- Broadcom lays off
- Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
- Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
- Nestle Sept 2023 report
- India Equity Market