There are growing signs that countries in the Middle East are prepared to accept the normalization of Assad’s regime, even after the ten-year civil war in Syria. Many countries, including the U.S. and Qatar, have been outspoken in their opposition to normalizing relations with Assad, while the United Arab Emirates …
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Saudi Crown Prince Travels to the Gulf Ahead of Annual GCC Summit
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s visit to the Gulf states ahead of the annual Gulf Cooperation Council summit is intended to help rebuild his international reputation, sullied by his numerous missteps. With his stop in Qatar, MBS is also trying to continue healing the intra-GCC rift that began in …
Read More »Kurdistan Region counter terrorism unit arrests ISIS arms smugglers in Erbil: Coalition
Elite forces from the Kurdistan Region’s Directorate General of Counter Terrorism (CTD) arrested two ISIS arms smugglers in Erbil, according to a statement released on Thursday by the Special Operations Joint Task Force-Levant (SOJTF LEVANT), part of the US-led Coalition to Defeat ISIS. “Today the CTD conducted operations in the …
Read More »Islamic State’s spread beyond Syria, Iraq remains concern for US
The State Department’s annual report on terrorism said Islamic State branches outside of Iraq and Syria caused more fatalities in 2020 than any previous year. The number of terrorist attacks increased worldwide in 2020 in part due to the spread of Islamic State (IS) branches and al-Qaeda affiliates, the US …
Read More »Lebanon to Deport Members of Group that Bahrain Considers it Harbors Terrorism
Lebanon’s interior minister on Wednesday ordered the deportation of non-Lebanese members of a Bahraini group after some of them held a news conference in Beirut, harming Lebanon’s ties with the Kingdom. Bahrain accuses the group of harboring terrorism. Bahrain’s government has denounced “the promotion of malicious allegations and causing harm …
Read More »Islamic Jihad praises terror attack, does not take responsibility
The Islamic Jihad terror group praises — but not does take responsibility for — the deadly terror attack that left an Israeli man dead and wounded two others in the northern West Bank tonight. “We bless the heroic operation carried out by heroic resistance fighters from among our people, which …
Read More »Global task force needed to deal with repatriation of ISIS fighters
Governments are being urged to create a global task force to deal with the security risks posed by foreign terrorist fighters, and to take urgent action on repatriating female ISIS fighters or risk facing decades of threats. Defence and security think tank the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) says an …
Read More »Anti-ISIS coalition shoots down terrorist drone in southern Syria
An anti-ISIS coalition shot down a terrorist drone near a base in southern Syria this week, military officials said. Two RAF Typhoon FGR4s were patrolling over Syria and Iraq on Tuesday, as part of the global coalition against ISIS, and were ordered to investigate hostile drone activity near the Al …
Read More »US government accuses Iran of harbouring senior Al Qaeda leaders
In its annual terrorism report, the US State Department accused Iran of providing a safe haven for senior Al Qaeda members despite the regime’s public condemnation of the group. The report, released on Thursday, claimed senior Al Qaeda leaders are currently residing in Iran and “[facilitating] terrorist operations from there”. …
Read More »Young and Angry in Fezzan: Achieving Stability in Southern Libya through Greater Economic Opportunity
The Fezzan region of Libya is home both to the country’s largest oil field, making it key to Libya’s oil-based economy, and to some of its direst poverty. Young people have borne the brunt of the region’s chronic development challenges, making them vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups and criminal …
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