Ankara / AFP Iraq and Turkey on Wednesday were summoning their respective ambassadors in an increasingly acrimonious dispute between the two neighbours ahead of a planned operation to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from extremists. Ankara called in the Iraqi ambassador while Baghdad said it had decided to summon the Turkish envoy following bitter verbal exchanges, the two …

  Baghdad / AFP An air strike killed 21 Iraqi pro-government Sunni tribal fighters early on Wednesday in an area south of the country’s extremist-held second city Mosul, a commander and a minister said. It was unclear whether it was the Iraqi military or the US-led coalition against the IS group — the two forces flying armed aircraft in Iraq — …

  ERBIL / Reuters The battle for Mosul will be a make-or-break moment for Iraq that could split the country along ethnic and sectarian lines, said the former regional governor who has assembled a force which will take part in the campaign. Iraq has been preparing for more than a year for its offensive to drive IS out of its …