The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have completed a siege on areas under the Islamic State (IS) in Syria’s northern city of Raqqa. The siege on Raqqa has been completed, amid talks among the tribesmen in the city about reviving negotiations with IS over the next 24 hours for the withdrawal of IS from the […]

The Islamic State (IS) militants bombed historical al-Nuri mosque on Wednesday during fierce battles against the Iraqi army which has retaken most of Mosul, the country’s second largest city, after eight months of offensives. Iraqi Prime Minister Hadier Abadi said “blowing up the al-Nuri mosque and the al-Hadba minaret is an official declaration of defeat […]

The “liberation” of the city of Mosul from Daesh will be announced in a few days, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi said on Thursday, according to Baghdad-based Al-Sumaria TV. “It’s a matter of a few days and we will announce the total liberation of Mosul,” Al-Abadi told reporters in Baghdad, according to Al-Sumaria.

Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was awarded the Legion of Merit in Ankara on Tuesday in recognition of his services for promotion of Pakistan-Turkey defence ties. Speaking on the occasion, General Bajwa dedicated the award to the martyrs of both Pakistani and Turkish armed forces.

A US warplane shot down an Iran-made drone operated by pro-regime forces in southern Syria early on Tuesday, officials said, the second such incident in less than two weeks. The US-led anti-ISIL coalition said an F-15E Strike Eagle jet destroyed the Shaheed-129 drone around 12.30am, north-east of the Al Tanaf garrison which is close to […]

The European Union (EU) on Tuesday expressed deep concern about civilians trapped in the Iraqi city of Mosul as the battle enters the final stage and expressed support to humanitarian organizations to deliver lifesaving aid to them. “Our deepest concern right now are the civilians still trapped inside. Protecting the lives of tens of thousands […]

Iraq’s army said it encircled Islamic State’s stronghold in the Old City of Mosul on Tuesday after taking over an area to the north of the densely populated historic district. The army’s 9th armored division seized al-Shifaa district, which includes the city’s main hospitals, alongside the western bank of the Tigris river, a military statement […]

An American Navy fighter jet shot down a Syrian regime SU-22 fighter jet shortly after it attacked U.S. partner forces, the anti-Daesh coalition said Sunday. The Syrian aircraft had dropped bombs near Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) south of Tabqah, which the group seized from Daesh in May, according to the coalition statement that said the […]

US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis will meet again with his Turkish counterpart in Europe next week, said Monday the US general, who described the United States’ ordinary efforts to address Turkey’s concerns at the US decision, to provide arms for Kurdish fighters in Syria. US Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs […]

According to a German official, the country’s troops will start leaving a Turkish air base where they are stationed in July. German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen revealed the Bundeswehr soldiers would pull out of the Incirlik air base in Turkey after strained relations between the NATO allies. The German troops will be relocated […]

The EU Foreign Affairs Council discussed during its meeting in Luxembourg on Monday the situation im Iraq, focussing on the latest developments, in particular in Mosul and Nineveh province, and on the future stabilisation of the country. The Council issued a statement praising the Iraqi Government and the Iraqi security forces for the significant advances […]

Belgian F-16 fighter jets will be operating over Iraq and Syria until the end of this year, Belgian media reported Friday quoting Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. Belgium will allocate 17 million euro (USD 19 million) for the operation.

Daesh terrorist group is holding more than 100,000 civilians as human shields in the old city of Mosul in Iraq, said a UN official on Friday. “More than 100,000 civilians are still being held in the old city,” Bruno Geddo, the UN refugee agency (U.N.H.C.R.) representative in Iraq said during a press conference in Geneva.

French President Emmanuel Macron was in Morocco on Wednesday on a 24-hour visit for talks on battling terrorism as well as the Libyan conflict and Qatar’s dispute with its Gulf neighbours. As he stepped off the plane for his first visit to Morocco since his election in May, the French president, his wife Brigitte at […]

Iraqi forces on Tuesday reported progress in the US-backed campaign to dislodge Daesh from Mosul, announcing the capture of a district just north the city’s historic centre. With the loss of the Zanjili neighbourhood, the enclave still held by Daesh in the northern Iraqi city has shrunk to two districts along the western banks of […]

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that he will visit Qatar on Wednesday as part of Turkey’s mediation efforts to solve the recent Gulf crisis. Speaking at a press conference with Burundi foreign minister on Tuesday, Çavuşoğlu said he might visit Saudi Arabia as well and that the Turkish side is waiting for the Saudis […]

Iraqi and Syrian military top brass discussed in Baghdad on Tuesday ways to establish a joint coordination center and enhance cooperation in the field of border security. The meeting between Syrian military delegation, including chief of the operations dept., and Chief of Staff of the Iraqi Army Lt.-Gen. Othman Al-Ghanemi led to a consensus that […]

African Union chairperson Alpha Conde on Sunday put himself forward as a mediator in the crisis between Qatar and other Gulf countries, urging dialogue after several African nations also recalled their ambassadors to Doha. Conde, who is president of Guinea which has close ties to Saudi Arabia, said in a letter to King Salman he […]

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Bajwa on Monday met with Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz in the backdrop of a deepening diplomatic rift in the Middle East, Radio Pakistan reported. The PM ─ accompanied by General Bajwa, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Adviser to the PM […]

As part of its efforts to ease tension in the Gulf region, Ankara has called on all parties to come to a common solution and overcome differences to avoid a sectarian crisis in the region, which would put all countries in danger. “With all the already existing problems in the region, and particularly at a […]

A US-backed Syrian opposition force said yesterday it had captured a north-western neighbourhood of the Isil group’s de-facto capital of Raqqa, the second district to fall into their hands in days after the rebels launched a wide offensive to gain control of the extremists’ final stronghold. US military officials said they had no information to […]

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Monday called on the Northern Iraq to reconsider the planned referendum bid in September. Speaking following the cabinet meeting in Ankara, Numan Kurtulmus raised concerns regarding the independence referendum, which is supposed to be held in

Pakistan’s National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq on Thursday said that the National Security Committee of the parliament would discuss in detail the situation in the Arab Peninsula in its upcoming meeting. During the National Assembly session when the issues of attack on the Iranian parliament and Gulf crisis came under discussion, the speaker proposed that […]

Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate, also known as the Diyanet, will train 467 Syrian imams in northern Syria, the state body said Thursday. The efforts are directed to provide appropriate religious services to Syrian residents in various cities, including Al-Bab, Jarabulus, Azaz, Mare and Al-Rai, where terrorists were eliminated following the Turkish-led Operation Euphrates Shield.

Islamic State stepped up attacks on Iraqi army positions near the border with Syria, killing seven soldiers and wounding 12 in two attacks staged on Sunday and Tuesday, military sources said. Islamic State has been fighting since October a U.S.-backed offensive in Mosul, the largest city that fell under its control in both Syria and […]

US-backed fighters battled the Daesh group on Thursday as they tried to push further into the extremists’ Syrian bastion Raqa, two days after finally entering the northern city. The Syrian Democratic Forces alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters began the battle for the city earlier this week after seven months of fighting to surround the […]

U.S.-backed fighters gained ground against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the streets of Raqqa on June 7, a day after their months-long offensive finally broke into the jihadists’ Syrian bastion. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia has spent seven months advancing on the city, with backing from the U.S.-led coalition […]

Germany will pull all of its troops and aircraft from Turkey’s Incirlik airbase, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen announced on June 7. Approximately 270 troops stationed at Incirlik, as well as Tornado reconnaissance jets and a refueling plane, will be moved to Jordan over the next two months. Two days earlier, German Foreign […]

Turkey’s parliament has approved a draft bill allowing its troops to be deployed to a Turkish military base in Qatar, an apparent move to support the Gulf Arab country when it faces diplomatic and trade isolation from some of the biggest Middle Eastern powers.

Dozens of Syrian refugees remained stranded in no-man’s land between Morocco and Algeria on Tuesday, non-governmental groups said, despite an Algerian offer to help. Algiers said last week it would take in the refugees after the United Nations urged both sides to help the Syrians, who include a pregnant woman and have been stranded in […]

Algeria has strongly condemned, through the spokesman of the ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abdelaziz Benali Cherif, the terrorist attacks in Iraq, including that perpetrated Monday morning in Sadr City, a district in the northeast of the capital, Baghdad. “We condemn in the strongest terms the frequent terrorist attacks in Iraq and the escalation of bloody […]

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has affirmed Egypt’s full support for Iraq in its war against terrorism, while Iraqi President Fuad Masum has revealed Iraq’s intention to improve relations between the two countries. Media office of Masum, in a statement, said, “Iraqi President Fuad Masum received a phone call from his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah […]

An initiative to revitalise the Arab League’s role in resolving the Libyan crisis and urging stakeholders to settle disputes and iron out difficulties that impede the implementation of the political agreement was tabled Thursday by Tunisia as part of its presidency of the 146th Ordinary Session of the Arab Foreign Ministers’ Council.

Egypt and the Arab League (AL) welcomed on Saturday the ceasefire recently reached in conflict-stricken Syria after mediation efforts of the United States and Russia. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry hailed the truce that was reached Friday evening and will take effect on Sept. 12, the first day of the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice, calling on […]

Eleven people including seven policemen and four civilians were killed and 36 others wounded in a car bomb attack on police bus this morning in Istanbul. Tunisia, on Tuesday, condemned the terrorist attack that targeted this morning Beyazit Square district in the Turkish city of Istanbul and claimed the lives of several police officers and […]