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Korek resort (Iraq) (AFP) - In the fledgling ski resort of Korek in war-torn Iraq, the only battles are snow fights between visitors who often leave their traumatic memories at the foot of the slopes.

That's what Fawaz Behnam and many of the children and adults frolicking in knee-deep powder around him like about the idyllic tourist spot.

He and his family were in Mosul when the Islamic State group seized the city in 2014, forcing them to flee, leaving their home and their jewelry shops behind.

"We were very tired and we want to have some fun. Look at the people here enjoying themselves, not like in Mosul," said the 35-year-old, his face flush from the bright sun and cold wind.

Korek lies in Iraq's northern autonomous region of Kurdistan, where hundreds of thousands of Iraqis displaced by the 2014 jihadist offensive have found refuge.

"You can see the great atmosphere," said Behnam's brother-in-law Anmar Munir, a young accountant who also lives in the Kurdish city of Dohuk, further west.

"People are relaxed and enjoying themselves. This of course takes us away from the atmosphere of murder, displacement and persecution," he said.

About 120 kilometres (75 miles) to the west, Iraqi forces have spent the past four months battling jihadists to retake Mosul, IS's last major stronghold in the country.

Fawaz and Anmar are among the luckiest displaced who can afford to travel to Korek but hundreds of thousands are spending their third winter in displacement camps.

- Frontier destination -

At a snow festival organised in Korek by the regional government last week, groups of young people, some in proper winter attire but many wearing flimsy city shoes, broke into traditional dance and enjoyed some of the activities available there.

Dozens queued for a ride on a Zip-line, others raced each other on sleds and the most adventurous signed up for their first skiing class on a baby piste -- but the most popular sports remained snow fighting and selfie snapping.

Nader Rusty, a spokesperson for the regional government's tourism ministry, has other ambitions for Iraq's only mountain resort than just offering relief to victims of conflict.

"We organise this snow festival every year. It's very important to improve tourism in general and winter tourism in particular," he said.

Conflict-torn Iraq is best known for its searing temperatures and not exactly a tourist magnet but Korek is hoping to make a name for itself as a frontier skiing destination.

2014 was supposed to be a takeoff year for Kurdistan's tourism industry and Korek was one of its flagship projects.

However the devastating human and economic impact of the IS offensive that year and the subsequent war to retake lost territory left Kurdish dreams in tatters.

"Our target was seven million (tourists) by 2025 but because of the war, our plan has changed," said Nader Rusty.

- Haven -

For now Korek lacks a ski lift but it boasts a state-of-the-art Austrian-built cable car and swanky chalets.

James Willcox, a cofounder of adventure travel company "Untamed borders", was in Korek for the snow festival with a group he believes was on the first ever commercial skiing trip to Iraq.

"We were skiing nearer to Haj Omran, where the mountains are bigger and we were lucky that there has been lots of snow this week," he said.

"So we took one day to come here to ski, to listen to the music, to eat and to enjoy the festival," said Willcox, who also organises holiday trips to places such as Somalia and Chechnya.

Rohan Lord came all the way from New Zealand to ski in Iraq.

"The skiing is fantastic. The snow is fantastic. The hospitality has been brilliant," he said. When asked about the conflict unfolding in Iraq, he said: "We were nervous, there's no doubt about it."

For Mohammed Ghanem, a student from Fallujah -- a city west of Baghdad which Iraqi forces retook from IS jihadists last year -- the main appeal of Korek is precisely its remoteness from war.

"There is no nature like this (in Fallujah), nor any such safety. There are only explosions. You never feel safe and when you go out you are scared of car bombs or of being detained," he said.

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Ski resort brings winter cheer to Iraq displaced - Yahoo Sports

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Feb. 5, 2017 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Iraq and Syria yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 21 strikes in 25 engagements in Syria:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an ISIL tanker truck, two oil stills and three oil storage tanks.

-- Near Ayn Isa, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a fighting position.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes destroyed an ISIL pump jack and an oil wellhead.

-- Near Idlib, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.

-- Near Palmyra, a strike destroyed an ISIL tank.

-- Near Raqqa, 15 strikes engaged five ISIL tactical units; destroyed 11 oil tanker trucks, three oil storage tanks, three tunnels, two fighting positions, two oil pumpjacks, a vehicle and a command and control node; and damaged three supply routes.

Strikes in Iraq

Bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft and rocket artillery conducted 11 strikes in 38 engagements in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraqs government:

-- Near Beiji, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.

-- Near Haditha, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit.

-- Near Huwayjah, a strike destroyed an improvised explosive device factory.

-- Near Kirkuk, a strike destroyed an ISIL vehicle bomb.

-- Near Mosul, five strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit; destroyed three watercraft, a vehicle bomb, a barge, a vehicle, an unmanned aircraft and an artillery system; and damaged 18 supply routes.

-- Near Qaim, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.

-- Near Rawah, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle and a mortar system.

Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

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Coalition Strikes Target ISIL in Syria, Iraq > U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ... - Department of Defense

A report into the Iraq Historical Allegations Team (IHAT), which investigates claims alleging that UK troops engaged in abuse and torture in Iraq, will call for the initiative to be replaced by a military-led team.

The report due out next week is fronted by former soldier turned Tory MP Johnny Mercer, who has been a leading critic of investigations into potential war crimes.

However, the Sun newspaper appears to have discovered some of the reports findings ahead of publication.

Read more

This includes the assertion that IHAT should be replaced by a military team, meaning that the Armed Forces would investigate themselves.

I am clear where the problems lie, Mercer, who chairs the defense committee producing the report, told the Sun.

There is a rotten core of civil servants who made decisions without Ministers or military input, he said.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) defended IHAT, telling the paper: The government is legally obliged to investigate criminal allegations and the courts are clear that if IHAT did not exist, British troops could be dragged through international courts.

Were committed to reducing IHATs caseload to a small number of credible cases as quickly as possible, it said.

However, the ministry added that they were determined to clamp down on spurious legal claims against our troops and tackle the likes of Phil Shiner, who have abused our legal system.

Last week, Phil Shiner, a lawyer and professor, was struck off the solicitors register after admitting to numerous counts of misconduct.

Shiner had previously been head of Public Interest Lawyers, a now-defunct firm that was responsible for bringing many cases of abuse against UK troops on behalf of Iraqi citizens.

The only conviction to have emerged from IHAT so far is that of one of its own investigators, a retired police officer who tried to use an expired police warrant card to access a UK military facility in 2011, but was refused entry at the gate, according to documents seen by the Telegraph.

The Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) were contacted and he was suspended from IHAT duty either the same day or the day after. He was subsequently charged by the MDP and convicted at a Magistrates Court, the records claim.

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Military should investigate itself, Iraq abuse report will urge - RT

Middle East Eye

US dividing Iraq from Syria with border air strikes against IS Middle East Eye The United States has recently been targeting Islamic State militants in the desert region on the Iraq-Syria border in an effort to re-separate the two countries. The campaign has resulted in the killing of civilian farmers and nomads. Pan-Arab daily ...

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US dividing Iraq from Syria with border air strikes against IS - Middle East Eye

Key points:

As the Mosul operation has intensified, food security has deteriorated for IDPs, returnees and resident households in surveyed sub-districts.

Over 40 percent of households in Telafar had poor or borderline food consumption and used negative coping strategies in December. Most of the households interviewed were recent returnees.

Access to the Public Distribution System remains very poor in conflict-affected areas and among displaced families.

Situation Update

As the Mosul offensive continues, IOM reports that an estimated 132,000 people have been displaced by the ongoing military operations, which began on 17 October. More than 1 million people are thought to remain cut off from humanitarian assistance in Mosul city. Around 114,000 people are sheltering in camps and emergency sites to the south and east of Mosul city but these facilities have almost reached their maximum capacity. Government and humanitarian actors are responding urgently to increase camp capacity and humanitarian assistance.

Military encirclement and the destruction of bridges connecting the east and west banks of the Tigris river are of growing concern as they affect access and supply routes to the western side of the city, where an estimated 750,000 people reside. UNHCR reports that in the west of Mosul supply routes have been cut off and the prices of basic necessities have surged, particularly for fuel and food. However, it is extremely difficult to obtain reliable information from Mosul city. WFP has increased the coverage of mVAM to include the city, which will be reported on in the January mVAM bulletin.

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Iraq - mVAM Bulletin #24: January 2017; Returnees to Telafar liberated areas face rising food insecurity - Reliefweb