To this day, ISIS controls five isolated pockets in Syria, the largest of which is located near the Ithria village in Hama province. The other four enclaves are situated south of Raqqa province, in Palmyra’s countryside, near borders with Iraq and south of the eastern city of Deir Ezzor. Since …

Al-Hamadin, referred to as the “most dangerous and oldest of the takfiri elements in the Sinai,” was responsible for the murder of hundreds of civilians and Egyptian soldiers. Leader of the ISIS terrorist organization in the Sinai Peninsula, Salim Salma Said Mahmoud al-Hamadin, was killed during clashes with Bedouin and …

Rumors began swirling last fall that al-Qaida chieftain Ayman al-Zawahiri had died of natural causes. With no confirmation, counterterrorism analysts and long-time al-Qaida watchers weighed in with various assessments of what it would mean for the terrorist organization if it had indeed lost its leader. Just last week, al-Qaida’s official …

The nature of the relationship between al-Qaeda and Iran is one of the most contentious debates in the counterterrorism community, dividing analysts, policymakers and government officials. The stakes of establishing or disproving the relationship are considerable—meaningful state support is immensely useful to terrorist organizations, especially one being hunted by the …

In a sign that Ankara is seeking to make renewed inroads in Central Asia, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu visited three of the five states in the region in early March—Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Turkey has made concerted efforts to leverage historic, cultural, …

Syrian Oil Minister Bassam Toma’a has revealed that around 90 per cent of Syrian oil is under the control of US forces, Aram News Network reported on Friday. “The Americans and their followers are acting like pirates as they are targeting the Syrian oil wealth and oil supplies,” the Syrian …

A container ship blocking the Suez Canal like a “beached whale” sent new shockwaves through global trade today as officials stopped all ships entering the channel and the salvage company said it may take weeks to free, Reuters reported. The 400 metre Ever Given, almost as long as the Empire …

Erdogan was promoting his global campaign of victimization by “Islamophobia”, while in fact it is the critics of extremist Islam who are in danger and frequently killed. In the Caucasus, Turkey has just supported the Azerbaijani war against Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh in order to create a Turkish Islamic corridor between …

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani described the relations between Tehran and Beijing as strategic, hailing China’s stances in support of Iran in international arenas, including on the JCPOA and the US’ unilateral sanctions. Iran and China maintain very good ties and the two countries’ common stances on international issues are indications …

Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority chief said on Saturday that officials could not lay out a set timetable for when Panamanian container ship, The Ever Given, will be dislodged. Lt. Gen. Osama Rabei said that the ship broke the canal’s bank and can only be moved using excavators.