Middle Orient

The US military covered up airstrikes in eastern Syria next to the town of Baghuz during its campaign against the Islamic State in 2019 that killed over 60 women and children and up to 80 people total, the New York Times first reported on Saturday. The two airstrikes, ordered by …

Ethiopia’s government wants to buy Turkey’s drone, Bayraktar TB2, creating speculation about the Tigray war, Reuters reports. According to the report, Ethiopia wants to buy Bayraktar TB2 drones, after a military cooperation agreement was signed with Ankara. Last August, Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, signed a military cooperation agreement on …

Libya will not participate in the Paris conference on Libya if the occupation state of Israel attends, Spokesperson for the National Unity Government (GNU) Mohamed Hammouda revealed earlier this week. “The government is steadfast in its position and the position of all Libyans and is committed to the Palestinian cause,” …

Regional realignment is storming ahead in the run-up to November 29, the date set for the resumption of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the global powers in Vienna. This is being driven by sudden, major regional developments. This includes the alleged actions by Iran’s proxies in Iraq, such as an …

Iraq has been rocked by several high-profile attacks and deadly clashes over the past seven days, including an assassination attempt on Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi on Sunday. A period marked by violence began on October 30, when rockets were fired into a residential area of the capital Baghdad near …

The November 6 drone strike on Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s home represented a dramatic escalation of violence over the results of Iraq’s October 10 national election. The attack retaliated for the killing and wounding of pro-Iranian protesters by Iraqi security forces. The assassination attempt, likely approved by Iran, illustrates …

This time last year, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey appeared to be on opposing sides of a range of issues spanning the broader Middle East and North Africa region. But recently, leaders from the two countries have started to talk again. Concerns in 2019 and 2020 that a regional …

In a little more than a month, on Dec. 24, Libyan voters will go to the polls to elect a new president, and after a decadelong civil war it is probably stating the obvious to say that they face tough choices. Among the candidates they can vote for are Gen. …

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Islamist ambitions seem to be seeking an international role in post-U.S. Afghanistan in alliance with the Taliban, Qatar, Pakistan and Malaysia. The trouble is, Turkey, among the new sharia alliance in the making, is the only country with institutional ties to the Western world. Biden …

On 7 November, outgoing Iraqi prime minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi survived an assassination attempt, casting a shadow over the country’s recent elections. While the attack remains unclaimed, pro-Iranian Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) groups are suspected of being involved following their party’s (the Fatah Alliance) rejection of the election results. The attack …