Sunday, 13 September 2026

The Kurdistan Region’s security agency said it arrested 22 suspected ISIS members in Sulaymaniyah and Halabja during operations over the past 96 hours. The agency said the detainees included an alleged senior religious official who was arrested in Khurmal after an exchange of gunfire, with no casualties reported. It also reported seizing weapons, grenades and ammunition and said intelligence indicated that the suspects had planned attacks for mid-September. In Diyala, the Security Media Cell said Iraqi F-16s fired two missiles and destroyed an ISIS hideout in the Kati’a area after military intelligence and aerial surveillance identified it. The cell gave no information on whether anyone was inside or whether the strike caused casualties. Separately, gunmen attacked an Iraqi army position between Hawija and Sargaran, damaging a thermal surveillance camera before fleeing. No Iraqi troops were reported injured, and forces began a search.

Iraq signed a 25-year contract between the state-run North Oil Company and KEPPT to develop and operate the Ajil field in Saladin. The agreement aims to raise gas production gradually from about 135 million to 300 million standard cubic feet per day. It also sets an increase in oil output from 30,000 to 40,000 barrels per day, with the government linking the project to electricity generation. Separately, US Energy Information Administration data put Iraqi crude shipments to the United States at 46,000 barrels per day last week, up from 38,000 the previous week. Iraq ranked tenth among US crude suppliers, while the Ajil increases remain targets to be reached gradually.

A Kurdistan Regional Government delegation briefed the KDP parliamentary bloc on its Baghdad talks with the federal finance, planning and oil ministries over the 2027 budget. The meeting called for regular payment of Kurdistan Region salaries and financial entitlements and for Kurdish parliamentary blocs to coordinate during the budget process. KDP parliamentary bloc leader Shakhawan Abdullah said Erbil and Baghdad had not agreed on a 14% budget share, although he said the salary dispute was moving toward resolution. Abdullah said the KRG had submitted financial data and payroll documentation to the Finance Ministry and that biometric registration and salary banking had reached an advanced stage. He expected the federal budget bill to reach parliament around the middle of October. The Kurdish parties are coordinating their position, but the proposed regional share remains unsettled.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq denied responsibility for Friday night’s drone attack on Saudi East–West Pipeline facilities in the Riyadh and Medina regions. It called such an action an honor it did not claim, while Riyadh attributed the attack to Iraqi factions and Baghdad said it originated in Iraq. The Badr parliamentary bloc praised the denial and accused the government of accepting Riyadh’s account too quickly. Baghdad closed three Iran crossings, dismissed the Maysan Operations Commander and accepted Iran’s request for a joint investigation. Security Media Cell chief Lt. Gen. Saad Maan said a task force had seized a drone-launch platform inside Iraq, with forensic and technical work continuing. Al-Ahad TV (AAH — official), Al-Kornet al-Kata'ibi (KSS — affiliated), Al-Ghadeer TV (Badr Organization — official) and Watan TV (Badr Organization — affiliated) described the joint probe as covering border launch platforms, while Sabereen News (KH — affiliated) described it as covering the Saudi attack. Separately, the Interior Ministry announced that police found 47 drones and 46 projectiles at an abandoned western Anbar site; security sources believed the cache belonged to an armed faction, while investigators were working to establish its origin and connections.

Baghdad began a phased reopening of the three Iran crossings on Sunday, one day after closing them during the investigation. Passenger entry resumed at al-Shib and Shalamcheh at 6 a.m. Sunday. Commercial traffic is scheduled to restart at Shalamcheh on Monday, Mandali on Tuesday and al-Shib on Thursday. During the closures, Sabereen reported Shalamcheh completely shut. Unit 10,000 (KH — affiliated) said Iraqi families, mostly patients and children, were stranded inside Iran at al-Shib, while Al-Ahad reported commercial traffic moving smoothly through Mundhariya.

Hakim Atiya al-Muhammadawi (AAH — Sadiqoun general-body member) held PMF chairman Faleh al-Fayyad responsible for delayed personnel entitlements and accused the PMF leadership of failing to warn headquarters before attacks. Ahmed Adnan (AAH — Sadiqoun member) alleged that the government withdrew the PMF law because its age provisions applied to Fayyad and that Fayyad twice declined parliament’s invitation. Adnan also said Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zaidi had adopted the law before the State Administration Coalition and that political forces largely supported finalising it. Israa al-Hajjimi (AAH — Sadiqoun general-body member) alleged that political interference obstructed the warning investigation and demanded that Fayyad be held accountable. Political researcher Ahmad al-Miyahi then called to change the PMF’s senior leadership, while Iraqi Center for Media Development head Adnan al-Sarraj urged structural reorganisation and new personnel. Those proposals were the guests’ positions, not an AAH leadership statement. The pressure has moved beyond earlier demands that Fayyad appear before parliament to allegations of a blocked investigation and calls for leadership change. Fayyad has not answered these accusations.

An Iraqi army position in Hawija, Kirkuk, was reported attacked on 12 September. Sabereen invoked the Saudi pipeline as it told readers to wait a quarter of an hour to learn who attacked the army. Unit 10,000 and Al-Ahad also reported the attack, while Al-Ghadeer attributed it to ISIS and said security forces repelled it. In Diyala, Al-Ittijah TV (KH — official), Al-Ghadeer and Unit 10,000 reported a joint PMF–army operation from the Wand River outlet to Hamrin Lake to pursue terrorist cells. Shabab al-Islam (Ashab al-Kahf — owned/non-official) and Al-Kornet al-Kata'ibi (KSS — affiliated) reported a heavy PMF deployment through western Anbar toward the Syrian border. Iraqi security authorities have not confirmed that deployment. FAA (Ansar Allah al-Awfiya — official) separately said its PMF 19th Brigade was conducting explosives-handling and controlled-detonation training along the Iraqi-Syrian border.