ANKARA -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump met in New York over the independence referendum proposed by the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), the Turkish presidency said on Friday.
According to the statement, Erdogan on Thursday met with Trump after his attendance of the 72nd Session of UN General Assembly. (Turkey-U.S.-KRG)
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NYALA, Sudan -- At least three internally displaced persons (IDP) were killed and 26 others injured in clashes between government forces and IDPs who protested in Kalma IDP camp in South Darfur in rejection to a visit by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to the camp, United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) announced Friday.
"UNAMID is deeply concerned about clashes between government forces and internally displaced persons (IDPs) residing at Kalma camp, South Darfur, which have led to the death of at least three IDPs and injuries to some 26 others," said UNAMID in a statement Friday. (Sudan-Darfur-Clashes)
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BAGHDAD -- Iraqi security forces on Friday retook control of 39 villages from Islamic State (IS) militants as part of the first phase of an offensive to dislodge the extremist militants from their stronghold of Hawijah and surrounding areas, the Iraqi military said.
The army's 9th Armored Division and two paramilitary Hashd Shaabi brigades freed 19 villages as they pushed in the rural area in north of the city of Hawijah, some 230 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir Yarallah, from the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC), said in a brief statement. (Iraq-IS)
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ANKARA -- Turkey's top security body on Friday warned of "serious consequences" if the Iraqi Kurdish independence referendum is held on Sept. 25.
The referendum is "illegitimate and unacceptable," the National Security Council (NSC) said in a written statement following a meeting at the presidential palace in Ankara. (Turkey-Iraq Kurdish Referendum-Warning) Enditem
