Middle Orient

When the U.S. military targeted Islamic State commander Maher al-Agal with a drone strike in northern Syria in July, there was little chance it would miss. The reason? Revenge. With Islamic State’s last battle-hardened forces holed up in remote areas, the United States is turning to the aid of tribesmen …

The Islamic State group killed six U.S.-backed Syrian fighters in eastern Syria saying on Monday that the killing was in retaliation for an ongoing operation inside a sprawling camp housing tens of thousands of family members of the extremist group. The IS-linked Aamaq news agency released a video showing the …

An explosion caused by an improvised device killed six Yemeni separatist fighters on Monday during an anti-jihadist sweep in the south of the war-ravaged country, security sources said. “Four Yemeni soldiers were killed and six others wounded in an IED explosion targeting a military vehicle” during a campaign targeting Al-Qaeda …

Albanian authorities thwarted a second cyberattack over the weekend after Tirana, backed by the United States with pledges of support and fresh sanctions on Iran, severed all diplomatic ties with Tehran who it blames for the “sabotage”. Meanwhile, hopes of reviving the 2015 nuclear deal continue to fade as leading …

Iran has signed two contracts to build oil refineries for itself in foreign countries, an MP said. Speaking to Tasnim, member of the Iranian Parliament’s Energy Commission Parviz Mohammadnejad said the lawmakers have repeatedly recommended that the Oil Ministry should take swift action to attract foreign investment and construct “extraterritorial …

Four Turkish soldiers were killed in a clash with militants in northern Iraq, Turkey’s defence ministry said late on Sunday. The ministry said the incident took place in a region where Turkey was carrying out a cross border operation.

At least seven fighters from a Kurdish-led force were killed Sunday in two ISIS group attacks in eastern Syria, a war monitor said. “Six fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were killed” in an ISIS attack along the road linking Deir Ezzor province with Hasakeh, said Rami Abdel Rahman, …

Iran has designed a drone, named Arash-2, specifically for targeting the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa, a senior Iranian military commander said on Sunday. “We have specially designed this drone for Haifa and Tel Aviv. This is a unique drone that was developed for this task,” state media …

Two senior ISIS commanders were killed in an Iraqi air strike in the Hamrin Mountain range, in the Salah al-Din province, announced the Iraqi Security Media Cell (SMC) on Saturday. The operation was carried out based on intelligence information provided by the Federal Intelligence and Investigation Agency (FIIA) at the …

Michael ‘Erik’ Kurilla, the Army four-star general overseeing all American troops in the Middle East, went inside Syria’s al-Hol Islamic State detainment camp Friday and spoke with residents. He says many can be sent home. The commander of all US military forces in the Middle East made an urgent appeal …