MECRA
How Iraq's Shia militias are reacting to the rocket attack on the Green Zone and US embassy area
On May 19 a Katyusha rocket fired from near Baghdad's Technological University landed near the monument to the Unknown Soldier not far...
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MECRA RESEARCH BLOG
The MECRA research blog is composed of short articles and may include outside contributions. The views expressed in these blogs and articles are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis editorial stance.
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MECRA
- Apr 26, 2019
- 8 min
Yazidi ruling helps children of women kidnapped by ISIS return
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN A new ruling by the Yazidi Supreme Spiritual Council has sought to help solve one of the more complex and...
MECRA
- Apr 2, 2019
- 6 min
The Arrest of Aws al-Khafaji: Looking at the Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas Forces
By AYMENN JAWAD AL-TAMIMI In February, security forces affiliated with the Iraqi government’s Hashd Sha’abi commission carried out a raid...
MECRA
- Mar 24, 2019
- 3 min
Will ferry disaster in Mosul have broad political ramifications
The deaths of over 100 people on a ferry ride to Umm al-Rabeein island on March 21 in Mosul has led to protests and the likely dismissal...
MECRA
- Mar 14, 2019
- 6 min
Can Iraq and Kurdistan rebuild and stabilize Sinjar?
By PAUL IDDON The Iraqi government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) plan to jointly rebuild the Yazidis homeland,...
MECRA
- Mar 9, 2019
- 5 min
The Fall of the Caliphate
No new beginnings in sight for ravaged Syria. The Jerusalem Post (8/3) The Islamic State proclaimed by the Iraqi jihadist Abu Bakr...
MECRA
- Mar 9, 2019
- 3 min
Interview and report: ISIS ambushes Hashd al-Shaabi (PMU) on Kirkuk-Makhmur road
Units of the 15th Brigade of the Hashd al-Shaabi (PMU) were ambushed while driving at night on March 6 from Tuz toward Mosul via Kirkuk...
MECRA
- Mar 9, 2019
- 3 min
Who will help save the Yazidis
By DAWOOD SALEH The author is a survivor of the Yazidi genocide. He is the author of Walking Alone. This article first appears in The...
MECRA
- Mar 9, 2019
- 2 min
Signs in Basra extol Shi'ite groups, fallen in the war on ISIS and Iranian leaders
A trip to Basra by Dave McAvoy reveals the extent of imagery lining roads showing different figures from Iraq's Shi'ite political parties...
MECRA
- Mar 8, 2019
- 2 min
Report: Bombing targets Director of National Security for Mosul, latest in rising attacks by ISIS
A VBIED bomb targeted Mosul on Friday night, slightly over a week after another bomb struck the same area targeting a cafe near Mosul...
MECRA
- Feb 23, 2019
- 4 min
Iran officials predict greater influence in Iraq and US withdrawal from Middle East
“Today the best and closest friend [of Iran] are the rulers of Iraq,” Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Major General Qasem...
MECRA
- Feb 2, 2019
- 4 min
Tensions rise in Mosul as Hashd al-Shaabi (PMU) warns US forces against "provocative" patrols
A video emerged on February 1 showing US forces on patrol in eastern Mosul and units of the Hashd al-Shaabi or Popular Mobilization Units...
MECRA
- Jan 26, 2019
- 5 min
Implications and ramifications after Kurdish protesters enter Turkish base in KRG, northern Iraq
Kurdish protesters gathered outside of a Turkish army base on January 26 in northern Iraq's Kurdish region. This area along the border...
MECRA
- Dec 18, 2018
- 7 min
Who are the Rojava Peshmerga, the group that US thinks may help with Syria crisis?
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN The long, lonely road from Dohuk in the Kurdistan region to Sinjar, the site of the ISIS genocide of Yazidis, is...
MECRA
- Dec 14, 2018
- 1 min
Exclusive photos of Turkish airstrike in Iraq's Makhmour camp
MECRA obtained exclusive photos from the sit of the Turkish airstrike that shook Makhmour Camp area on December 13. The strike was one of...
MECRA
- Dec 8, 2018
- 3 min
1.8 million Iraqis still displaced a year after defeat of ISIS in Iraq
A new report reveals that at least 1.8 million Iraqis are still displaced more than a year after the government declared major combat...
MECRA
- Nov 30, 2018
- 1 min
Exclusive Video: Peshmerga describe ISIS threat near Makhmur, Qarachukh mountain
In a new video from a Kurdish Peshmerga position near Makhmur on Qarachukh mountain, the Peshmerga described the ISIS threat and how ISIS...
MECRA
- Oct 23, 2018
- 3 min
Basra's pollution documented in rare drone footage by NRC
The Norwegian Refugee Council has published new drone footage of pollution in Basra, including canals choked with plastic and the Shat...
MECRA
- Oct 23, 2018
- 2 min
Qayyara bombing worst since liberation from ISIS
A car bombing south of Mosul, in the city of Qayyara (Qayara, القيارة), is one of the worst security incidents in the city and area since...
MECRA
- Sep 1, 2018
- 2 min
With the Kurdish PDKI on the border with Iran: Exclusive new photos from Zach Huff
Zach Huff, a field researcher with MECRA, recently travelled to the border areas of northern Iraq and Iran with the Democratic Party of...
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