Iraq's Shi'ite Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Saturday that he had ordered his air force to halt strikes on civilian areas, addressing a condition set by Sunni Muslim tribal figures to support his campaign against Islamic State fighters. Rights groups say Iraqi government attacks this year, many of them in areas held by the Islamic State which controls one third of the country, have indiscriminately targeted civilians. "I have ordered the Iraqi Air Force to halt shelling of civilian areas even in those towns controlled by ISIS," Abadi said on his official Twitter account, using the former name for militant group Islamic State. The United Nations representative in Iraq, Nickolay Mlade**v, welcomed the comments, which were repeated by Abadi at a conference about refugees on Saturday in Baghdad.
09-15-2014, 08:16 AM
Iraq PM says halting air strikes on IS-held civilian areas
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