Samarra

BAGHDAD: A truck bomb exploded at a crowded checkpoint outside the city of Hilla, south of Baghdad, on Sunday, killing at least 47 people, officials and medical sources said.

SAMARRA: A suicide truck bomb killed at least 11 Iraqi forces south of Tikrit Saturday during operations paving the way for an assault on the jihadist-held city, the army said.

BAGHDAD: Islamic State suicide bombers and fighters struck targets on Saturday in the northern Iraqi city of Samarra, where security forces and their Shi'ite militia allies have been gathering for an offensive against the radical militants.

BAGHDAD: Iran's president vowed on Wednesday to defend Shi'ite holy sites in Iraq, where Sunni militants battled their way into the biggest oil refinery in what is rapidly turning into a sectarian war across the frontiers of the Middle East. Sunni fighters were in control of three quarters of the territory of the Baiji refinery north of Baghdad, an official said there, after a morning of heavy fighting at gates defended by elite troops under siege for a week. A lightning advance has seen Sunni fighters rout the Shi'ite-led…