Middle Orient

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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. …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …