Popular Mobilisation

The task is cut out for allies of both the BJP-led coalition and the one headed by the Samajwadi Party to mobilise core voters in Varanasi, where the poll battle is being seen as a test of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity in his constituency

An Iraqi drone strike killed nine members of the pro-government Popular Mobilisation paramilitary force near Tikrit in an apparent case of so-called "friendly fire", a spokesman said Sunday.

Attacks targeting Shias in Baghdad, including a suicide bombing at a funeral in a mosque, killed at least 15 people today, security and medical officials said.

The head of one of Iraq's fiercest Shi'ite militias called the US-led coalition's campaign against Islamic State ineffective and accused Washington of lacking the will to uproot radical Sunni jihadis controlling large swathes of Iraq and Syria.

Iraqi forces entered a northern neighbourhood of Tikrit today, marking a new stage in the operation launched 10 days ago to wrest the city back from jihadists, army officers said.

The task is cut out for allies of both the BJP-led coalition and the one headed by the Samajwadi Party to mobilise core voters in Varanasi, where the poll battle is being seen as a test of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity in his constituency

An Iraqi drone strike killed nine members of the pro-government Popular Mobilisation paramilitary force near Tikrit in an apparent case of so-called "friendly fire", a spokesman said Sunday.

Attacks targeting Shias in Baghdad, including a suicide bombing at a funeral in a mosque, killed at least 15 people today, security and medical officials said.

The head of one of Iraq's fiercest Shi'ite militias called the US-led coalition's campaign against Islamic State ineffective and accused Washington of lacking the will to uproot radical Sunni jihadis controlling large swathes of Iraq and Syria.

Iraqi forces entered a northern neighbourhood of Tikrit today, marking a new stage in the operation launched 10 days ago to wrest the city back from jihadists, army officers said.