Middle Orient

Syria’s army broke a years-long Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) siege on the government enclave of Deir Ezzor city on Tuesday as it battles to expel the jihadists from a key stronghold. The jihadist group has already lost more than half of its nearby bastion of Raqqa …

Turkish Air Force conducted an operation in northern Iraq, killing at least eight PKK militants, the Turkish military said Tuesday. The PKK militants were plotting an attack on Turkish military locations on the Turkish-Iraqi border, according to a statement issued by Turkish General Staff.

Turkey will continue to stand with the people of Tal Afar in the post-Daesh period just as it helped and harbored tens of thousands people that escaped there, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Thursday, welcoming the liberation of the predominantly Turkmen town by Iraqi forces from …

Iraq declared on Thursday that its forces had retaken the northern city of Tal Afar and the surrounding region in another major victory over Daesh group extremists. Daesh, which seized nearly a third of Iraq in 2014 in a stunning defeat for the army, now controls just 10 per cent …

The Kingdom of Jordan and Iraq have reopened the Turaibil border crossing, as part of their efforts to forge closer bilateral ties. A joint statement by the Jordanian and Iraqi government said that the border crossing was reopened after the international highway was secured, adding that the measure will further …

Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi has congratulated the military for an “overwhelming victory” against ISIL in Tal Afar, as an officer likened continuing fighting in a nearby town to opening “the gates of hell”. Mr Al Abadi is expected to announce the full liberation of Tal Afar from ISIL …

Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Wednesday announced his country’s “victory over terrorism” following a 10-day army campaign against Daesh terrorists holed up near the Syrian border. Earlier Wednesday, Lebanese Army Commander General Joseph Aoun (no relation) officially announced the successful completion of the Lebanese army’s Operation Fajr al-Juroud.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu participated on Friday in a Turkey, Romania and Poland trilateral meeting of foreign ministers in Poland along with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, where strengthening NATO’s role in the fight against terrorism was reportedly discussed. Çavuşoğlu visited Warsaw, Poland yesterday for talks and attended the …

Pentagon chief Jim Mattis held talks with Turkish leaders in Ankara on Wednesday focusing on Washington’s arming of a Syrian Kurdish militia viewed as a terror group by Turkey, a move which has strained ties between the NATO allies. Mattis flew in for the one-day visit after stopping in Iraq …

Iraqi forces on Wednesday recaptured several districts and advanced towards the centre of Tal Afar, one of the Daesh group’s last strongholds in the country, as aid workers braced for an exodus of civilians fleeing the fighting. Armoured personnel carriers full of soldiers and fighters of the Hashed Al-Shaabi paramilitary …