At least 11 people were killed and eight wounded late on Sunday night when militants launched an orchestrated attack on an Iraqi military post in western Baghdad, police said on Monday.
A government statement put the death toll at four, with three wounded.
About 11pm local time, ISIS gunmen opened fire on a monitoring tower in Al Radhwaniyah district, guarded by Sunni paramilitary troops, one of whom was killed and another wounded, a tribal leader said.
The wounded started making calls for support from their base about a kilometre away.
“Whoever rushed to the scene was either killed or wounded and had his car burnt,” the tribal leader said.
“The clashes were fierce. Daesh militants were yelling ‘Allahu Akbar’ and fire was coming from three directions.
“They used light weapons, grenades and roadside bombs to attack those rushing for help."
A security source said: "ISIS attacked the monitoring tower, killing five members of the tribal Hashed and six local people who had come to help repel the attack."
A medic said eight of the wounded were transferred to a hospital in central Baghdad.
The militants fled the scene shortly after the attack. The army and police are search for the assailants.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility from ISIS.
Nearly three years after declaring victory over ISIS in late 2017, Iraqi and American officials are still warning that the war with extremists is far from over.
Iraqi officials say ISIS remnants, mainly locals, are regrouping in small numbers in rural areas of the centre and the north.
They are carrying out guerrilla-style attacks and posing a challenge to Iraqi security.
At its height, the group overran nearly a third of Iraq and Syria between mid-2014 and late 2017.
Thousands of militants joined from around the world.
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18
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450,000
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1.5 million
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73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
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4,926
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SCORES
Multiply Titans 81-2 in 12.1 overs
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Brief scores:
Toss: Pakhtunkhwa Zalmi, chose to field
Environment Agency: 193-3 (20 ov)
Ikhlaq 76 not out, Khaliya 58, Ahsan 55
Pakhtunkhwa Zalmi: 194-2 (18.3 ov)
Afridi 95 not out, Sajid 55, Rizwan 36 not out
Result: Pakhtunkhwa won by 8 wickets
