shiites

Hard-Line Muslim Faithful Storm Iran Shrines Shut over Coronavirus

Devout Muslim Shiite followers in Iran fought their way into two major shrines closed over coronavirus fears, Iranian state media reported Tuesday, as they demanded the right to continue worshipping practices that include kissing, touching and in some cases licking sacred public objects.

People gather outside the closed doors of the Fatima Masumeh shrine in Iran's holy city of

Kurdish Peshmerga: Iraqis ‘Too Weak’ to Take Mosul Alone

Kurdish Peshmerga forces fighting alongside the Iraqi military on the mission to liberate Mosul from the Islamic State warn that the Iraqi army is “too weak” to fight ISIS, even with its advanced weaponry, while the peshmerga is better trained but ill-equipped to fight alone.

Iraqi troops stand guard at a base in Makhmur, around 70 kilometres (45 miles) southeast o