Middle Orient

An American Navy fighter jet shot down a Syrian regime SU-22 fighter jet shortly after it attacked U.S. partner forces, the anti-Daesh coalition said Sunday. The Syrian aircraft had dropped bombs near Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) south of Tabqah, which the group seized from Daesh in May, according to the …

US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis will meet again with his Turkish counterpart in Europe next week, said Monday the US general, who described the United States’ ordinary efforts to address Turkey’s concerns at the US decision, to provide arms for Kurdish fighters in Syria. US Marine General Joseph Dunford, …

According to a German official, the country’s troops will start leaving a Turkish air base where they are stationed in July. German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen revealed the Bundeswehr soldiers would pull out of the Incirlik air base in Turkey after strained relations between the NATO allies. The …

The EU Foreign Affairs Council discussed during its meeting in Luxembourg on Monday the situation im Iraq, focussing on the latest developments, in particular in Mosul and Nineveh province, and on the future stabilisation of the country. The Council issued a statement praising the Iraqi Government and the Iraqi security …

Belgian F-16 fighter jets will be operating over Iraq and Syria until the end of this year, Belgian media reported Friday quoting Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. Belgium will allocate 17 million euro (USD 19 million) for the operation.

Daesh terrorist group is holding more than 100,000 civilians as human shields in the old city of Mosul in Iraq, said a UN official on Friday. “More than 100,000 civilians are still being held in the old city,” Bruno Geddo, the UN refugee agency (U.N.H.C.R.) representative in Iraq said during …

French President Emmanuel Macron was in Morocco on Wednesday on a 24-hour visit for talks on battling terrorism as well as the Libyan conflict and Qatar’s dispute with its Gulf neighbours. As he stepped off the plane for his first visit to Morocco since his election in May, the French …

Iraqi forces on Tuesday reported progress in the US-backed campaign to dislodge Daesh from Mosul, announcing the capture of a district just north the city’s historic centre. With the loss of the Zanjili neighbourhood, the enclave still held by Daesh in the northern Iraqi city has shrunk to two districts …

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that he will visit Qatar on Wednesday as part of Turkey’s mediation efforts to solve the recent Gulf crisis. Speaking at a press conference with Burundi foreign minister on Tuesday, Çavuşoğlu said he might visit Saudi Arabia as well and that the Turkish side …

Iraqi and Syrian military top brass discussed in Baghdad on Tuesday ways to establish a joint coordination center and enhance cooperation in the field of border security. The meeting between Syrian military delegation, including chief of the operations dept., and Chief of Staff of the Iraqi Army Lt.-Gen. Othman Al-Ghanemi …