Eurasia

Iraqi security forces and paramilitary units launched a dawn assault Tuesday against one of the Daesh group’s last bastions in the vast western province of Anbar bordering Syria. The Joint Operations Command, which is co-ordinating Iraqi security forces battling Daesh, said an offensive had begun to retake the town of …

The European Union reiterated Wednesday its steadfast support for Iraq’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity and called for dialogue between Irbil and Baghdad to resolve outstanding issues. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini described the Kurdistan region’s planned September 25 independence referendum as “counterproductive,” saying that it “must be avoided.”

Egypt says that it will host the reorganisation of Libya’s army, currently an eastern-based force led by General Khalifa Hifter. A statement signed by the Egyptian Committee on Libya on Tuesday says Libyan military officers who met in Cairo recently chose Egypt as a starting point for plans to unify …

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono convened the second US-India-Japan ministerial-level trilateral dialogue Monday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York during which they discussed topics of mutual concern. State Department Spokesperson …

NATO will take another month to respond to Washington’s demands for alliance allies to send more troops to Afghanistan. During a meeting of the NATO Military Committee in Tirana in Albania on Saturday, defense chiefs from 29 member nations recognized the need to send in more troops, said the committee’s …

Iraqi armed forces on Saturday dislodged the Daesh terror group from a natural gas-rich border area with Syria, according to the military. Iranian-backed forces fighting with Syrian President Bashar Assad’s army simultaneously announced the start of an offensive to reach the same border area from the opposite side. An Iraqi …

Turkey launched a military drill featuring tanks close to the Iraqi border on Monday, the army said, a week before Iraq’s Kurdish region will hold an independence referendum. Despite opposition from Turkey, Iran and the United States, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s leaders have said they will hold the non-binding independence …

U.K. Defense Minister Michael Fallon arrived in Baghdad on Monday morning to discuss the ongoing fight against Daesh and Iraq’s precarious political situation with Iraqi officials. Iraqi Interior Minister Qassem al-Araji received the British defense minister at Baghdad’s international airport this morning.

A top Egyptian court upheld on Saturday a life sentence for ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in a case revolving around state documents leaked to Qatar, a judicial official said. The Court of Cassation ruling, which is final, overthrew a 15-year sentence for Morsi on charges of stealing the documents, …

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Central African Republic is requesting about 750 more troops to help fill a “security vacuum” worsened by the withdrawal of US special forces as violence surges again, according to a confidential cable obtained by The Associated Press.