BAGHDAD (Reuters) – At least 18 people were killed in clashes between anti-government protesters and police in Baghdad overnight, according to police and medical sources, as the cabinet tried to appease public anger over corruption and unemployment with a new reform plan. The scale of the protests, in which nearly 100 people have died since Tuesday, has taken the authorities by surprise. Two years after the defeat of Islamic State, security is better than it has been in years, but corruption is rampant, wrecked infrastructure has not been rebuilt and jobs remain scarce. Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi s 17-point plan was the result of an emergency cabinet meeting on Saturday night and comes after days of offering only vague reform promises. It includes increased subsidized housing for the poor, stipends for the unemployed as well as training programs and small loans initiatives for unemployed youth. The families of those killed during demonstrations this week will also get payouts and care usually granted to members of the security forces killed during war. “Amid all of this, I swear to God that my only concern is for the casualties,” Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said during the cabinet meeting, according to state TV. The streets of the capital were quiet so far on Sunday. Protests have tended to gather steam later in the day. The clashes shattered a day of relative calm on Saturday after authorities lifted a curfew and traffic moved normally in the center of Baghdad. Hundreds of security personnel were deployed in the streets. The demonstrations began in Baghdad on Tuesday but have spread quickly spread to other cities mainly in the south. In the city of Nasiriya, where at least 18 people were killed during the week, police fired live rounds at demonstrators on Saturday. Twenty-four people were wounded in the clashes overnight, including seven policemen, according to security, hospital and morgue sources. Protesters also torched the headquarters of several political parties in Nasiriya, police said. These included the headquarters of the powerful Dawa party that dominated Iraq s government from 2003 until 2018 elections. Violence also broke out again in Diwaniya, another city south of Baghdad killing at least one person, police said. FEARS AHEAD OF PILGRIMAGE The cabinet s new plan may not be enough to placate protesters and the politicians who ve sided with them. Opposition to the government among parliamentary blocs who have begun boycotting legislative meetings is already brewing, adding pressure on Abdul Mahdi and his cabinet to step down. Influential Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who has a mass popular following and controls a large chunk of parliament, demanded on Friday that the government resign and snap elections be held. At least one other major parliamentary grouping allied itself with Sadr against the government. But powerful political parties which have dominated Iraqi politics since the 2003 US-led invasion and toppling of dictator Saddam Hussein have not indicated they are willing to relinquish the institutions they control. In eastern Baghdad on Friday and Saturday, police snipers shot at demonstrators and several people were wounded, Reuters reporters said. Security services said the violence killed 8 members of the security forces and wounded more than 1,000, state television reported. At least 95 demonstrators have died across Iraq, according to a Reuters tally based on police and medical sources. Iraq s semi-official High Commission for Human Rights had put the toll at 99 dead since protests broke out on Tuesday. The unrest is the deadliest Iraq has seen since the declared defeat of Islamic State in 2017 and has shaken Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi s year-old government. Iraqis fear the violence will continue to escalate. The violence continued as people began journeying across southern Iraq for the Shi ite pilgrimage of Arbaeen, which is expected to attract 20 million worshipers. Reporting by John Davison and Ahmed Rasheed in Baghdad and Raya Jalabi in Erbil; additional reporting by Aref Mohammed in Basra and Reuters Pictures and Reuters TV; writing by Raya Jalabi; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky

Iraqi security forces imposed a round-the-clock curfew in Baghdad and fired live rounds and tear gas on Thursday to disperse anti-government protests that have gripped the country since earlier this week, killing 21 people so far. In a desperate attempt to quell the demonstrations, which were spontaneous and mostly spurred by woes over deteriorating economy and lack of jobs and services, authorities have cut internet access across much of Iraq. Before dawn, explosions were heard inside Baghdad s heavily fortified Green Zone, home to government offices and foreign embassies. The U.S.-led coalition said an investigation is underway, adding that no coalition forces or assets were hit. So far, at least 21 people have been reported killed and hundreds have been wounded since the violence and clashes between security forces and anti-government demonstrators first erupted on Tuesday. Twelve people were killed late Wednesday in the southern cities of Nasriyah, Kut, and Amara. The dead were protesters and one policeman, according to security officials. Iraq s state news agency said Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbusi invited representatives of the protesters to come to the parliament building to discuss their demands. The protests, concentrated in Baghdad and in predominantly Shiite areas of southern Iraq are mostly spontaneous and without political leadership, staged by disenchanted youth demanding jobs, improved services, such as electricity and water, and an end to Iraq s endemic corruption. They have organized the protests on social media and have gradually escalated their demands and now want the government to resign. No political party has so far joined the campaign. The demonstrations and the unrest are the most serious challenge to Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi s year-old government, which has been caught in the middle of U.S.-Iran tensions in the Middle East. Iraq is allied with both countries and hosts thousands of U.S. troops, as well as powerful paramilitary forces allied with Iran. Also Thursday, Iraq s foreign ministry summoned Iran s ambassador to Baghdad to denounce his threat that Tehran would retaliate to an American attack anywhere in the world, including in Iraq. A ministry statement said Iraqi official Abdul-Karim Hashem told Iran s envoy, Iraj Masjedi, that American troops are in Iraq and the request of the Iraqi government and that Iraq will not accept becoming an arena for international conflicts. Masjedi recently told Iraq s Dijla TV that if the Americans attack Iran, Tehran ``will strike back anywhere, including (in) Iraq." The Baghdad curfew was announced early Thursday following a meeting of Iraq s top leaders to discuss anti-government protests that have engulfed the country. Authorities say it is meant to ``protect general peace" and protesters from ``infiltrators" who committed attacks against security forces and public property. It excludes travelers to and from the Baghdad airport and Iraqi Airways said flights were operating as scheduled. Baghdad s main streets were largely deserted Thursday morning. In central Tahrir Square, hundreds of young protesters were gathered, and police fired tear gas canisters every now and then. Iraqi army vehicles were also seen moving in the streets of the capital and in some areas, they blocked side roads with barbed wire. ``Whether there is curfew or not we are going to continue," shouted one protester in Tahrir Square. When the demonstrators tried to reach a nearby bridge that leads to the Green Zone on Thursday morning, Iraqi security forces started shooting above the crowd from automatic rifles and also fired tear gas, according to an Associated Press cameraman at the scene. NetBlocks, which monitors cybersecurity and internet governance, reported that Internet access was cut off across much of Iraq and social and messaging apps blocked amid the growing unrest. The U.S.-led coalition, which has a presence on the ground in Iraq, issued a statement saying it is monitoring the protests and added that ``we call on all sides to reduce tensions and reject violence" as the loss of life and injuries among civilians and Iraqi security forces was deeply concerning. Coalition spokesman Col. Myles B. Caggins III, said that explosions were heard in the Green Zone before dawn Thursday. He said Iraqi forces were investigating and that no coalition facility was struck. ``Coalition troops always reserve the right to defend ourselves, attacks on our personnel will not be tolerated," he said. An Iraqi security official said two mortar shells hit the Green Zone, falling on open space and not causing any casualties. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Dozens of university graduates unable to find jobs in the corruption-plagued but oil-rich country have also joined the rallies. Politicians denounced the violence and at least one, influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, called for an investigation. Earlier on Wednesday, at least seven people were killed and dozens were wounded in clashes that spread across Iraq despite a massive security dragnet mounted by the government in an effort to quash the economically-driven protests. On Tuesday, protests had left two dead _ one in Baghdad and another in the city of Nasiriyah _ and over 200 wounded. Curfews were also announced in some of the southern provinces but they were not being observed. In the southern city of Basra, unknown assailants shot and killed an Iraqi activist Hussein Adel Madani and his wife. Security officials said masked gunmen stormed the house early Thursday and killed the cartoonist and his wife while their two-year-old daughter, Zahra, was not harmed. The well-known activists had been taking part in protests in the city Wednesday night. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the killing of the actvists.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Security forces used live fire and tear gas to disperse demonstrators in renewed protests in Baghdad on Wednesday, a day after at least two Iraqis were killed and 200 wounded in clashes over unemployment, corruption and poor public services. At least eight protesters were wounded in the Zafaraniya district of southeast Baghdad when police and the army opened fire and launched tear gas canisters to disperse dozens of protesters, police sources said. In northern Baghdad, about 200 protesters took to the streets of the Shaab district and blocked a key highway linking the capital to the northern cities. Soldiers went into the area to disperse them, police and eyewitnesses said. The main protest on Tuesday erupted in Baghdad, where one protester was killed, with some demonstrations taking place in other areas, including in the southern city of Nassiriya where a protester was also shot dead, according to police. A government statement on Tuesday said 40 members of the security forces were among those injured and blamed “groups of inciting riots” for the violence. The United Nations on Wednesday expressed concern over the violence and urged calm, with the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert reaffirming in a statement the right to protest. “Hennis-Plasschaert urges the authorities to exercise restraint in their handling of the protests to ensure the safety of peaceful protesters while upholding law and order and protecting the people, public and private property,” it said. On Wednesday, security forces blocked several roads in Baghdad, including a bridge that leads to the fortified Green Zone, which houses government buildings and foreign embassies, as part of tightened security measures, a security source said. “Orders from our commanders are clear and definitive; no protesters are to approach the Green Zone,” said one security official. In a bid to temper angry protests, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi on Tuesday issued a statement promising jobs for graduates. He instructed the oil ministry and other government bodies to start including a 50 percent quota for local workers in subsequent contracts with foreign companies. Oil-rich Iraq has suffered for decades, from rule by Saddam Hussein including years subject to U.N. sanctions, to the 2003 U.S. invasion and civil war it unleashed, and then the battle against Islamic State, which was declared won in 2017. Graft is widespread and basic services such as power and water are lacking.

Egypt s Coptic Orthodox Church spokesman said the church is preparing to establish a new monastery for nuns in Australia, in a statement on his official Facebook page. Pope Tawadros II met on Monday with nuns Mother Katrina and Mother Elizabeth from St. Demiana s monastery at the papal headquarters in St Mark s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Abbasiya, to discuss the arrangements for establishing the new religious community. The new monastery is currently under construction in the Laura district of Sydney. There are two Coptic Orthodox dioceses in Australia with over 50 parishes, as well as three monasteries, two theological colleges and four schools. The country s first Coptic Orthodox nunnery, Archangel Michael Monastery in Melbourne, was opened by Pope Tawadros in 2017.

Egypt s Ministry of Interior said in statement on Sunday that police killed 15 terrorists during a shootout in El-Arish, the capital city of North Sinai. The statement said that a raid was carried out to arrest the terrorists based on intelligence revealing that a terrorist group was located at a farm in El-Arish s Obour region planned to carry out attacks. “The group has been involved in a number of hostile attacks against the army and police forces,” the statement said. "Upon the approach of police forces, the terrorist group opened fire, prompting police to fire back and kill 15 terrorists,” it said. No casualties were reported among the police. "Police forces seized nine automatic rifles, three bird-eye rifles, two explosive charges and an explosive belt in possession of the terrorist group." The statement did not say when the raid took place, yet the announcement came three days after an Islamic State attack on a checkpoint in the town of Bir El-Abd, which killed eight troops and one civilian.

Egypt s Interior Ministry said on Sunday that 15 terrorists were killed during a shootout with police forces following a raid on a hideout in al-Obour at al-Arish in North Sinai. According to the statement, the National Security Agency was tipped regarding the hideout of a terrorist group in a farm at Hous district in al-Obour, as they were preparing to carry out an attack. The statement said that the group was involved in a series of hostile operations against the armed forces and the police, and were seeking to escalate their plans to destabilize security and undermine the nation. The statement added that security agencies processed this information and raided the hideout. As the forces approached, the terrorists opened fire at them resulting in the killing of 15 of them. “Nine automatic weapons, rifles, two explosive devices, and an explosive belt were found in the possession of the terrorists,” the statement said. Police filed a report on the incident and referred it to the Supreme State Security Prosecution for further investigations. Egypt has been battling a wave of terrorism which has killed hundreds of security forces and personnel since the army toppled former President Mohammed Morsi in 2013, in response to mass protests against his one-year rule.

Egyptian TV presenter Amr Adib broadcast on Wednesday the video confessions of six foreigners and one Egyptian national who authorities say were arrested for their involvement in a hostile plot to spread chaos in Egypt. During his TV night talk show El-Hekayah on MBC channel, Adib said that the suspects entered Egypt earlier this month as part of a hostile plot to incite against the Egyptian state. Among the suspects is Ashraf Asaad, a Palestinian national and Gaza resident who entered Egypt on 18 September through the Rafah land port, and has been identified by Egyptian security as a member of the Hamas-affiliated Al-Quds Brigades and who works as an agent for monitoring and communication. In his confession video, Asaad said he was directed by his group to enter Egypt one day before last Friday s protest to monitor the developments on the ground and support "the revolution in Egypt." Another of the suspects is Peter Bos Haroun, a Dutch national who entered Egypt on 14 September via Cairo International Airport and was staying at Cairo s Downtown Hotel. In his confession, which Haroun gave in English, he said that he flew a drone from the rooftop terrace of the hotel to take pictures and videos, but was arrested hours later by Egyptian police after being spotted by one of the hotel s employees. Adib said that according to security sources, Haroun was tasked by "a foreign party" to observe Tahrir square and nearby streets on the day of the demonstrations. Security sources also said that he communicated with several individuals responsible for rallying demonstrators. Berat Bertan, a Turkish national, said that he was arrested in Tahrir square for filming security forces and checkpoints deployed in a number of areas in central Cairo. Thaer Hossam, a Jordanian national, said that he is a member of the anti-Jordanian government communist party in his country, and that he came to Egypt to incite chaos by publishing videos on social networking sites. Abdullah Kemak, a Turkish national, said that he had come to Egypt to take part in the protests and film the developments in Tahrir Square with the aim of creating chaos and inciting against the Egyptian state on social media on behalf of a hostile nation. Abdul-Rahman Ali, another Jordanian national and a member of the Jordanian communist party, said that he came to Egypt in September to participate in demonstrations in order to spread chaos, adding that he was arrested while heading to Tahrir Square to film live videos to broadcast on social networking sites. Mustafa Ahmed Mustafa, an Egyptian national who works in Saudi Arabia, admitted that he joined the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist group in 2012 and participated in the sit-ins at Rabaa El-Adaweya and El-Nahda Square and a number of riots and violence acts against the state. Mustafa said that he received $5,800 to recruit young people to participate in Friday s protests based on directives from the International Muslim Brotherhood organisation. Along with their detailed confessions, Adib displayed all the passports of the suspects and showed parts of the footage they filmed. On Monday, Adib revealed for the first time publically that President El-Sisi was the target of a foiled assassination attempt in 2015 at his summer residence in El-Maamoura neighbourhood in Alexandria. Adib played video confessions of two members of Lewaa Al-Thawra, a terrorist organisation linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, where they talked about the assassination attempt. Adib also showed footage the suspects had taken of the president s residence while preparing to carrying out the assassination. Last Friday evening, Egypt s police dispersed limited protests in Downtown Cairo and several other cities following calls to demonstrate against alleged mismanagement of public funds by government officials.Last Friday evening, Egypt s police dispersed limited protests in Downtown Cairo and several other cities following calls to demonstrate against alleged mismanagement of public funds by government officials. Hundreds of protesters also marched and chanted anti-government slogans in several cities including Cairo, Alexandria and Damietta on the Mediterranean, Mansoura and Mahalla in the central Nile Delta, and Suez city. Unofficial reports have said that hundreds were arrested during last Friday s protests and the days after, including politicians and activists, although no political entity has endorsed the calls for protests. Last Friday s protests came after a string of videos were posted online by an Egyptian contractor, Mohamed Ali, who says that he worked on various construction projects with state institutions and currently resides in Spain. Ali made allegations of mismanagement of funds under the tenure of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. President El-Sisi has said in public statements that the accusations are based on lies and fabrications, stressing that the allegations of corruption aim at destabilising the trust of the people in their state institutions at a time when the government is working to overcome economic challenges and is fighting terrorism. President El-Sisi said that the state has spent EGP 4 trillion in the past several years on projects to develop the economy and benefit ordinary Egyptians. Since last Friday s protests, Egyptian TV channels and pro-state platforms have been accusing the terrorist-designated Muslim Brotherhood organisation of sponsoring and inciting for protests in Egypt, as part of a plot to disrupt the country s political and economic stability with the aim of overthrowing President El-Sisi s government. In turn, the Muslim Brotherhood affiliated channels, which air from Qatar and Turkey, have maintained calls for public protests and demonstrations until the Egyptian regime is overthrown. Ali has called for more protests next Friday against the Egyptian president.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. envoy for Syria said Tuesday the agreement to establish a committee to draft a new constitution for the conflict-wracked country is an important first step and “a door opener” to eventual U.N.-supervised elections and a new future. But Geir Pedersen said before that can happen “we must build up what is still almost totally lacking in Syria — and that is a sense of trust and confidence — between Syrians, and between Syria and the outside world.” He told a meeting on Syria organized by the European Union on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the General Assembly that “there s no alternative but to work together to identify how to move together along a better path.” Pedersen spoke a day after Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced that the Syrian government and opposition had reached agreement on a long-awaited, U.N.-facilitated constitutional committee. Formation of a constitutional committee was agreed to at a Russian-hosted Syrian peace conference in January 2018, but it has taken nearly 20 months for the sides to agree on the 150 members — 50 each selected by the government and opposition and 50 selected by the U.N. from experts, independents, tribal leaders and women. The U.N. list faced lengthy objections, mainly from the Syrian government. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said it was the first time the U.N. facilitated an agreement directly between the parties. Pedersen said he shook hands after agreement was reached with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem in Damascus and then called opposition leader Nasser Hariri who was in New York. The U.N. envoy said Guterres looks forward to meeting them both in New York in the coming days and Pedersen will then begin discussions with them on the launch and initial work of the committee. “I believe I can say with some confidence that it will be launched very soon,” he said. Pedersen stressed that action on detainees, abductees and missing persons, “done in a meaningful way and at meaningful scale, is critical for the success of any credible political process.” “I will continue to push for progress on this crucial matter,” he said. Syria is scheduled to hold presidential elections in 2021, and the U.N. hopes that the talks over the constitution can help create a climate and mechanism for holding U.N.-supervised free and fair elections. But President Bashar Assad s government, which has all but won the war militarily with the help of Russia, is highly unlikely to offer any concessions on that front and Syrian officials have suggested the president will run again. The opposition says there can be no overall political resolution to the conflict as long as he remains in power. Syrian troops launched an offensive in the last rebel stronghold in northwestern Idlib on April 30 that forced over 400,000 people to flee, many of whom were already displaced. A cease-fire that went into effect at the end of August has been holding despite some violations. U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said humanitarian agencies operating in Syria and carrying out U.N.-authorized cross-border deliveries reached an average of 6.3 million people every month in the first half of the year. But he said the U.N. s $3.3 billion appeal has received just $1.1 billion, or 33 percent so far. That compares to almost 45 percent funding for last year s $3.4 billion appeal at this time.

Six Muslim Brotherhood members were killed during a security raid on their hideout in 6 October city on Tuesday. According to a brief statement issued by the Egyptian interior ministry, the members exchanged fire with security forces when they stormed their hideout. "They were planning to implement a set of terrorist operations against churches, key institutions, military troops and security forces in the near future to spread chaos in the state and intimidate citizens," the statement added. Egyptian authorities officially designated the Muslim Brotherhood group a terrorist organization in 2013.

The Egyptian cabinet s media centre has published an info-graph on Sunday saying that from 2017 to 2019, 1,000 churches and church-affiliated service premises have been given legal status by the committee concerned with legalising unlicensed churches. The committee legalised 1,109 churches and premises that had been operating without a permit over the past two years. According to the info-graph, 51 churches were legalised in Cairo, 87 in Sohag, 12 in Ismailia, 25 in Luxor, 15 in Qena, 17 in the Red Sea governorate, 28 in Daqahlia, 66 in Sharqia, 110 in Qalyubia, 14 in Suez, 35 in Beni Suef, eight in Kafr El-Sheikh, 121 in Giza, 35 in Gharbia, eight in Menoufiya, 74 in Beheira, 87 in Alexandria, 13 in Matrouh, three in Faiyum, 189 in Minya, 71 in Assiut, and two in the New Valley. The committee, which was formed in accordance with the church restoration and construction law of 2016, is headed by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and started work in 2017. The committee includes the ministers of justice, antiquities, and parliamentary affairs. Before the 2016 law was passed, there was ambiguity surrounding the rules regarding the construction of churches. "The committee studies and checks in details the requests from the legal representative of religious sect owning the church or premise," the cabinet said. The info-graph also revealed that a number of new churches have been built in several, including the cathedral inaugurated last January in the New Administrative Capital.

RAQQA, Syria (AP) — After two years on the run with the Islamic State group, Um Mahmoud just wanted to return home. When she finally made it to Raqqa with her daughters and grandchildren, she found her home partially burned but livable. She also found a hostile city reluctant to take her back. The 53-year-old seamstress had returned from al-Hol camp, where 73,000 people, most of them families of IS militants, have been kept since the territorial defeat of the group in March. But there is little trust in the returnees in Raqqa, which IS ruled with a brutal hand for years and which suffered massive devastation in the fight to drive it out. Um Mahmoud s neighbors and relatives in Raqqa have shunned her. “No one asks about us,” said the mother of six. “Relatives are … afraid of us.” Her return, in June, is part of an experiment by the US-backed Kurdish-led administration that runs northeastern Syria — an attempt to bring reconciliation to Raqqa after the upheaval that tore apart its social fabric. City administrators have allowed the return of nearly 700 families from al-Hol. The camp includes some 30,000 Syrians, mostly women and children, along with tens of thousands of Iraqis and hundreds of foreigners. Most of those foreigners home countries have refused to take them back. The administration here argues it s better to bring the families back into the fold rather than leave them stewing in radicalism. The return is coordinated with Arab tribal sheikhs, who vouch for the returnees, acting as guarantors they will not cause trouble. Thousands more Syrians in the camp have applied to return. The results of the experiment are still uncertain, Um Mahmoud s case makes clear. She and her family spoke on condition they not be identified by their full names because of the stigma they face. Um Mahmoud means mother of Mahmoud in Arabic, a common way of addressing women in the Arab and Muslim world that uses the name of their firstborn son. She and her family fled Raqqa in the summer of 2017 when IS ordered their neighborhood evacuated in the face of advances by the US-backed forces and coalition airstrikes. They moved with the retreating militants from town to town over the following months, until the group s final showdown in the eastern village of Baghouz. Two of her sons and a son-in-law were killed while fighting or working for IS. She emerged from Baghouz and was sent to al-Hol along with her three daughters and three grandchildren. Her husband, father, her surviving 14-year-old son and a son-in-law are in detention with the Kurdish-led forces. The son-in-law was sentenced to a year in prison for membership in IS, though it was determined he didn t fight. Without her male relatives, Um Mahmoud returned to a Raqqa that is trying to move on. Streets that were once unidentifiable under piles of debris have been cleared, and municipality workers are keeping them clean. Many tall buildings in the skyline are still bombed-out skeletons, but residents have moved in, rebuilding apartments or opening shops. New restaurants have sprung up, some along the banks of the river running across the city. Billboards rise over busy streets. One advertised a new wedding planning business that commissions singers, banned under IS. Vegetables from nearby farms color street stands. Public parks brim with children and their families. Officials say more than 800,000 people have returned to the city and its suburbs, nearly eight times the number who were still left in the city when IS was finally expelled in October 2017. Local officials said they restored 18 of 24 water pumping stations damaged by fighting. More than 300 schools, out of 800, now operate with tens of thousands of students. The US-led coalition has trained more than 7,500 men and women for Raqqa s internal security forces and refurbished 20 bridges destroyed in the fighting. A US State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity to brief reporters, said “very targeted” spending has been going into newly liberated areas to ensure that IS doesn t return. Washington, which last year froze its own planned funding for stabilization in northeast Syria, has raised more than $325 million from other nations for recovery operations. The official, however, acknowledged that the “mission is not complete.” IS retreated to desert areas and melted in among the population. It s now waging a counterinsurgency, targeting local officials and security checkpoints. At least six attacks were recorded in Raqqa alone in August, compared to none the month before, according to the Rojava Information Center. The violence only stokes Raqqa residents suspicions. Osama, who runs a shop selling phone credit in Raqqa, said Kurdish-led authorities are too lenient on IS supporters in court and shouldn t allow them back. “Who can guarantee they don t return to their old ways?” he said. He refused to share his last name out of fear for his security. During their rule, IS militants threatened to cut his tongue for his vocal criticism. His shop is on al-Naim Square, which became notorious for beheadings, shootings and other public punishments the group carried out there. Now it has been renamed Freedom Square. “If France and Germany refuse to take their own nationals, it must be for a good reason. Why should we take ours?” he said. Um Mahmoud s sponsor, Sheikh Hweidi al-Shalsh, said that view is short-sighted. Women and children in al-Hol camp are steeped in radical ideology, he said, feeding more radicalism unless they are removed. “If there is no security, the return of the people of Raqqa will ensure it is restored,” al-Shalsh said. He extolled the benefits of tribal restorative justice. If someone is killed, tribal sheikhs get together to find a resolution. “We are a tribal Muslim society first and foremost. Our nature is to forgive … We are a family.” Um Mahmoud scrapes out a living selling second-hand clothes in the market. She sold her gold bracelets to start up the business. Unlike most in the city, she and her daughters still follow the women s dress imposed by IS, covering not only their faces with a veil but also their eyes and hands. “The State is gone, but we are still implementing God s laws,” she said, defending the choice. She is stunned by how her neighbors have ostracized her. “Look at this! They have electricity and we don t. This one and that one,” she said pointing at her neighbors houses. “They don t feel for us. We are women sitting in the dark alone and they have 24 hours a day electricity. Is this what you call freedom?” Since electricity has not been fully restored, residents rely on generators for power and traditionally share among themselves. Um Mahmoud s neighbors refused to share with her. Um Mahmoud admitted her sons and sons-in-law fought for or were members of IS, but she said her family never hurt the neighbors. She accused them of trying to curry favor with the new authorities. Her family also said they encountered problems with city officials, despite promises of reintegration. When her daughter, Somaiya, asked to visit her imprisoned husband, authorities requested proof of marriage. But the local official refused to issue her the document, declaring her an IS supporter. Somaiya went three times, once removing her face veil to avoid the IS label, to no avail. This means she also can t enroll her son in school. A senior Kurdish official, not familiar with this specific case, denied new returnees are refused documents and said the reason must be procedural. The whole point is reintegration, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The American official said the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and local authorities are leading the reintegration effort, while the US-backed coalition gives indirect support. Once her husband is released from prison, Somaiya wants to move to a new neighborhood where no one recognizes them. For Um Mahmoud, life would change if her husband, father and son return. She said they never carried weapons and should be allowed back. To prove she wants to fit in, she said her son will join the new Kurdish-led forces once he returns. For now, she doesn t know where they are. “Not a night passes without thinking about them. If we can only learn their news, whether they are well or if they are dead,” she said. “We are patiently waiting until God resolves it and we return to our normal life.”

JERUSALEM (AP) — Seven Palestinians have been wounded after a rocket barrage from the Gaza Strip exploded near a house inside the coastal enclave. Palestinian eyewitnesses said Wednesday that two of the three rockets struck outside a home in the southern city of Rafah, and a third fell near the fence separating Israel and the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said it had identified “a failed launch attempt” from the Gaza Strip, but that no projectiles entered Israel. Gaza s health ministry said seven people were wounded, but didn t elaborate on their condition. It wasn t clear which Palestinian militant group in Gaza was behind the rocket fire. Israel and Hamas reached an informal cease-fire in May, following the worst bout of fighting since a 2014 war between them, which has largely held.

Afghanistan s Taliban insurgent group on Wednesday warned teachers, students and other education workers to avoid the upcoming presidential vote or risk dying in attacks on election centres. "Do not allow election organisers to turn your schools and institutions into electoral centres, and teachers and students should not work as electoral staff," said the Taliban statement. "We do not want to cause the loss of lives and financial losses for civilians, teachers and students," it said. In 10 days, Afghanistan will hold its fourth presidential election since United States-led forces toppled the hardline Islamist Taliban from power in 2001. The insurgents have sworn to violently disrupt the vote, which comes in the aftermath of collapsed peace talks between the militants and the United States. Schools and universities make up between seven and eight out of every ten polling centres across the country, and though no students, teachers or education officials are being hired as election workers, they can volunteer, said Abdul Aziz Ibrahimi, a spokesman for Afghanistan s election commission. "We are committed to holding elections on the announced date, and such threats from the Taliban cannot prevent us from holding them," the spokesman said. The Ministry of Education was not immediately available for comment, but the United Nations and international donors have asked it to help with elections because of its relatively developed infrastructure. On Tuesday, Taliban attackers killed nearly 50 people in separate suicide bombings, one targeting an election rally for incumbent President Ashraf Ghani, who is seeking a second five-year term. Security across the country has been tight in the run-up to the vote, after threats by the Taliban to attack meetings and polling stations. The group has vowed to intensify clashes with Afghan and foreign forces to dissuade people from voting in the upcoming elections. Last week, peace talks between the United States and the Taliban collapsed. The two sides had been seeking to reach an accord on the withdrawal of thousands of American troops from Afghanistan in exchange for security guarantees from the insurgents. The negotiations, which did not include the Afghan government, were intended as a prelude to wider peace negotiations to end more than more 40 years of war in Afghanistan.

The leader of the “Islamic State” group released an alleged audio recording on Monday calling on followers to free jihadis and family members from prisons and camps in Syria and Iraq. In a 30-minute audio recording released by the terror outfit s propaganda arm, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made what were purported to be his first comments since he appeared in a video in April. “The prisons, the prisons, soldiers of the caliphate,” the elusive IS chief said in a recording published by the Al Furqan network. “Do your utmost to rescue your brothers and sisters and break down the walls that imprison them.” He also said IS continued to carry out operations across the globe. Thousands of suspected jihadis and their family members are being held in overcrowded prisons and camps in Iraq and Kurdish-held areas of Syria. In Syria, where the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in March pushed IS out of the last sliver of its self-declared “caliphate,” tens of thousands of IS family members are being held in detention camps. One of the largest camps is al-Hol camp in Syria s northeast, where Kurdish forces are holding 70,000 people, many of them families of IS who fled from the group s last bastion in Syria. The International Rescue Committee said this week that those residing at al-Hol face a “purgatory-like existence.” Kurdish authorities say 12,000 foreigners from dozens of countries, including 4,000 women and twice as many children, are in camps it runs in northeastern Syria. Many face uncertainty over repatriation to their home countries. Tens of thousands of suspected fighters are also being held in prisons across Syria and Iraq. Although IS has lost all of its territory in Iraq and Syria, the group still carries out hit-and-run attacks and bombings. Baghdadi, if he is alive, is believed to be hiding out in the desert border regions of Iraq and Syria. IS affiliates are active from the Philippines and Afghanistan to West Africa. The group is also believed to have sleeper cells operating across the globe.

A Damanhour criminal court in Egypt s Behiera governorate sentenced on Sunday six defendants to death, two to life in prison and acquitted eight others over charges of joining a terrorist group and manufacturing and possessing explosives. The court also sentenced two other defendants to 10 years and five years in prison. Those convicted can appeal the verdicts. The prosecution said that the defendants confessed to joining the terrorist-designated Muslim Brotherhood group. The prosecution also said that the defendants had visible burns on their bodies at the time of their arrest in 2015, which they said they sustained when explosives they had been manufacturing in the Wadi Al-Natroun area accidentally detonated.

Egyptian security forces have killed a group of suspected terrorists in North Sinai who were plotting to carry out a series of attacks against police and army troops in the border region, the interior ministry said. The men were killed after they opened fire from their vehicle on security forces who approached them in the Galabana area, the ministry said in a statement. The terrorists were found in possession of ammunition, automatic weapons and materials used in making explosive devices, it said. The ministry did not reveal the number or the identity of the suspects but said all of them were killed, adding that another terrorist was killed nearby after he opened fire on security forces. A total of four policemen were injured in the two shootouts, it added. The ministry released photos of bloodied bodies with their faces concealed lying on the ground. Egypt is fighting an Islamist militancy based in North Sinai which intensified in 2013 following the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood. Crushing the militants, who have mainly targeted police and army personnel, and restoring security has been a key priority of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. Egyptian security forces launched an extensive security operation in February 2018 to eliminate the militants, killing hundreds of them in raids ever since.

An Egyptian criminal court sentenced in a retrial on Wednesday Muslim Brotherhood supreme guide Mohamed Badie and 10 other leading members of the group to life in prison on charges of spying for the Palestinian Hamas group. Other leading Brotherhood members sentenced on Wednesday include Khairat El-Shater, Saad El-Katatany, Essam El-Erian and Mohamed El-Beltagy. The defendants were charged with sharing Egyptian national security secrets with foreign organisations as well as coordinating with violent militant groups inside and outside the country to launch terrorist attacks inside Egypt. Two other defendants in the case, including Mohamed Refaa El-Tahtawy, were sentenced to seven years in prison. The court also acquitted three other leading Brotherhood members, including Essam Haddad, of the espionage charges, although they were convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison on other charges. Seven other defendants including El-Hassan Khairat El-Shater and Safwat Hegazy received acquittals. In June 2015, a court sentenced three defendants including El-Shater and El-Beltagy to death for espionage, and others including former president Mohamed Morsi to life in prison. Morsi died of a heart attack during a trial session in an espionage case in June 2019. Badie and other defendants in the trial are already serving various sentences in prison, including life imprisonment, in other cases. Life imprisonment is 25 years in prison according to Egyptian law. The Muslim Brotherhood was designated as a terrorist organisation in December 2013.

GAZA (Reuters) – Israeli aircraft struck in Gaza on Wednesday hours after rockets from the Palestinian enclave triggered sirens that forced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu off the stage at an election rally in Israel. The Israeli military said 15 targets were hit, including a weapons manufacturing facility, a naval compound used by militants and tunnels belonging to Hamas, the dominant armed force in Gaza. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Hours earlier, bodyguards rushed Netanyahu to shelter in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod when the sirens sounded during a Tuesday evening rally, a week ahead of a general election. Netanyahu was unhurt and several minutes later he continued his speech, which was broadcast live on social media by his right-wing Likud party. However, the spectacle of the prime minister being forced off the podium added fuel to accusations by political opponents that he has not done enough to halt the frequent cross-border rocket strikes against southern Israel. The Israeli military said two rockets had been fired from the Gaza Strip towards Ashdod and another port city, Ashkelon, just to the south, and were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system. It said Wednesday s strikes in Gaza came in response to the rocket launchings. There was no immediately claim of responsibility for Tuesday s rocket attack, which happened shortly after Netanyahu announced a plan to annex part of the occupied West Bank if re-elected in the national ballot on Sept. 17. Israel seized Gaza in a 1967 war and pulled out its settlers and troops in 2005. It maintains a naval blockade of the enclave and along with Egypt imposes tight restrictions at land borders, citing security concerns. Hamas and Israel have fought three wars in the past decade. Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza and Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem; Writing by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall

Egyptian authorities have arrested 16 Muslim Brotherhood members associated with plans by the group s fugitive leaders in Turkey to undermine the country s security and economy, the interior ministry said. The suspects were arrested in Egypt after the National Security service uncovered a plot by the fugitives intended to harm the economy and carry out a series of attacks against the police, military and judiciary to create chaos in the country, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. The plan allegedly involved setting up secret networks designed to smuggle foreign currency and wanted Brotherhood members out of the country to Europe through Turkey, and to offer financial support to Brotherhood members in Egypt to carry out violent attacks. The ministry named four fugitives who it said have been identified by authorities as the orchestrators of the plot. Sixteen other Brotherhood members based in Egypt and linked to the plan have been arrested, it said. Egypt designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation in 2013, months after the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi following mass protests against his one-year rule.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed on Monday in his eleventh hour bid to legislate that cameras be installed in polling stations to prevent what his supporters claim is voting fraud in Arab districts. After a stormy session, a parliamentary committee voted it down before it reached the plenum with Netanyahu s backers deadlocked with his opponents. The deciding, dissenting vote was cast by a representative of former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, an ally-turned-rival of Netanyahu who forced Israel s unprecedented second election of the year and is poised to be the kingmaker again in the vote. With just a week to go to the repeat election, Netanyahu had sought to pass the controversial legislation amid a scorched earth campaign in which he s accused his opponents of conspiring to “steal” the election. Netanyahu insists the proposal was a matter of transparency but it drew renewed accusations that he was promoting racism and incitement against the country s Arab minority. Critics also said he was preemptively claiming to be a victim of electoral fraud as an alibi, in case he loses. Mordechai Kremnitzer, a constitutional law expert, wrote in the Haaretz daily that the bill amounted to pointing a “gun at Israeli democracy s head.” With his career on the line, Netanyahu has increasingly been embracing some tactics of President Donald Trump. Netanyahu routinely lashes out at the media, the judiciary, the police and his political opponents, claiming there is a conspiracy of “elites” to oust him. In a Facebook video Sunday, Netanyahu hinted that Arab forgery prevented him from winning the April vote. Netanyahu s hard-line Likud Party had sent out campaign workers on election day to videotape Arab voters entering polling stations, claiming they were preventing fraud. A Likud-linked PR agency that spearheaded the campaign later boasted it had helped suppress Arab turnout, while Arab leaders accused Likud of trying to intimidate voters. Israel s Central Election Commission banned the practice this time around and the fast-tracked legislation was supposed to override that ruling. Adalah, a legal rights group for Arab minority rights, said even without passing the proposed bill “has already caused harm by injecting bald-faced lies into the public political discourse under the premise of preserving the purity of elections. ” Stifling Netanyahu once again was his nemesis Lieberman, who said any monitoring should be operated by election officials and not “Netanyahu s private militia.” Lieberman, who was once Netanyahu s chief of staff and a staunch partner, has emerged as his chief rival and critic. He passed up the post of defense minister in Netanyahu s government following April s election, leaving the prime minister without a parliamentary majority and forcing the Sept. 17 do-over vote. Opinion polls show Likud in a neck-and-neck race with the main challenger, the centrist Blue and White party, with neither side able to secure an outright majority without the support of Lieberman s party.