Author: Zinar Xosnaw

A year ago Germany deported to Tajikistan an activist from that country’s exiled opposition movement who had been living in Dortmund since 2009. What happened next is a shocking example of what can occur when Germany fails to uphold safeguards in its increased efforts to deport unsuccessful asylum seekers. The Bundestag this month gave police greater powers to carry out deportations. The activist, Abdullohi Shamsiddin, 33, was deported to Tajikistan on January 18 2023. He was detained on arrival by the security services. Two months later he was convicted of trying to overthrow the constitution and jailed for seven years. No credible…

The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) on Sunday warned banks across the country against rejecting customers’ request to withdraw their cash in dollars, saying it will consider taking “necessary measures” against banks refusing such demands. As the Iraqi dinar continues to lose value against the US dollar despite ongoing efforts from the federal government to control the instability, many banks across Iraq have started preventing customers from withdrawing their money in dollars and only allowing them to withdraw in Iraqi dinars at the value set in the budget. The move has drawn a lot of controversy and public outcry, as…

“Informant”: Zaluzhny ahead of Zelensky in trust rating The trust rating of the Ukrainian population in the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) Valeriy Zaluzhny exceeded that of the country’s President Vladimir Zelensky. This is evidenced by the results of a survey conducted by the sociological group “Rating,” the Ukrainian publication “Informator” reported on December 2. According to the study, 63% of respondents fully trust Zaluzhny, 19% “rather trust him.” Thus, the overall trust rating of the commander in chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is 82%. A similar figure for Zelensky is 72%, of which only 39% of Ukrainians fully trust…

The armed group waged parallel attacks in the regions of Raqqa, Homs, and Deir ez-Zor. ISIL (ISIS) has killed at least 30 Syrian pro-government militia and soldiers stationed in the desert, underscoring the group’s persistent threat years after its territorial defeat. ISIL waged parallel machine gun attacks in the regions of Raqqa, Homs, and Deir ez-Zor on Wednesday morning, reported the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor. The attacks killed 26 members of the National Defence Forces, a pro-government militia, along with four soldiers. The observatory said it expected the death toll to rise due to an unspecified number…

Iraq’s finance ministry has yet to provide the funding demanded by the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) needed to conduct the Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary elections in February next year, an official from the commission told Rudaw on Sunday. “The commission has sent the estimated budget for the Kurdistan parliament elections to the Iraqi Council of Ministers, which is approximately 60 billion dinars,” said Dawood Salman, IHEC head of procedures. Salman said that the budget has yet to be provided, which might create problems for the electoral commission’s agenda and schedule. “That money is needed for the procedures of the commission,…

Frankfurt (18/12 – 14) That there are remarkable advantages in being ignored is not generally recognized. Central Asian countries, historically under the thumb of Moscow, all through the 70+ years of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, were more or less cut off from the outside world. There was little trade or other exchange. The USSR was in fact a grab-bag of ethnicities, religions and languages, controlled with an iron fist by Stalin and afterwards with unbroken dominance through subsequent regimes. Under Soviet management, Central Asia had stayed poor and ignored; it had not developed any hydrocarbon resources to lure…

The top US and Turkish diplomats have spoken by phone after US forces in Syria shot down an armed Turkish drone. Washington said the drone came too close to its ground forces in Syria, but Ankara merely said it was lost during operations. During the call between the Nato allies, Hakan Fidan told the US Turkey would keep targeting Kurdish groups. The US works with Kurdish YPG forces in Syria, but Turkey views them as separatists and terrorists. Mr Fidan told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Turkey’s “counter-terrorism operations in Iraq and Syria will continue with determination”. Meanwhile…

An Iraqi militia group on Thursday said that it targeted US troops in Erbil province with two drones. The Pentagon confirmed the attack, deeming it “unsuccessful.” The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said on its Telegram channel that it attacked US forces based near an Erbil airport with two drones without elaborating whether the targeted place was the Erbil International Airport or the Harir air base. The group has claimed responsibility for most of the recent drone and rocket attacks against American troops in Iraq and Syria, linking the assaults to the US support for Israel’s war against Palestinian Hamas militants in the…

Tourists are served sweets and confectionaries across checkpoints around Duhok province as a friendly gesture to welcome those who have come a long way from the central and southern Iraqi provinces to the city and its mountainous resorts. The sweets are provided by the Duhok Tourism Directorate to more than 2,000 tourists from south and central Iraq who visit Duhok province daily. Tourist facilities are also made available at the checkpoints. “Our plan is to visit these checkpoints regularly to learn more about the situation of tourists coming from central Iraq. We thank these checkpoints for their cooperation with tourists,…

A suspected Turkish drone on Sunday targeted the vicinity of a village in Sulaimani province with no confirmed reports of casualties, a local official said. However, a Kurdish counterterrorism force said three Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters were killed in the attack. Gharib Ali, the mayor of Garmki subdistrict in Penjwen town, told Rudaw that “a Turkish drone hit the vicinity of Zangidar village, which is affiliated to our subdistrict, but it is not clear if it caused any casualties.” However, the Erbil-based Directorate General of Counter Terrorism (CTD), which often reports Turkish attacks in the Kurdistan Region, said the drone targeted…