Middle Orient

Islamic State looked close to defeat in its last enclave in eastern Syria on Wednesday as civilians poured out and the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said the remaining jihadists wanted to fight to the death. More than 2,000 civilians left the village of Baghouz in a convoy of dozens …

Istanbul recently hosted the second “International Islamic Union Congress,” sponsored mainly by the Strategic Research Center for Defenders of Justice (ASSAM), which is headed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s chief military advisor, Adnan Tanriverdi, a retired lieutenant general and an Islamist.

In January, Lebanon agreed to a new cabinet after nine months of political stalemate. The long-awaited government restructured the balance of power in ways that did not reflect the results of parliamentary elections in May 2018.

U.S. President Donald Trump has declared that the Islamic State (IS) “caliphate” is on the verge of collapse and he called on European allies to “take back” more than 800 militants captured in Syria.

A mortar blast shook the rooftop where Hunter Pugh stood watch over the last stretch of Syria controlled by the Islamic State, and he scanned the winter dawn, trying to decide whether it had been outgoing fire or an attack zeroing in on his post. The answer came from a …

The last defenders of the Islamic State terror group’s self-declared caliphate are refusing to surrender, clinging to their last sliver of land while hiding among hundreds of civilians.

The disintegration of the Islamic State’s Caliphate — which once included large portions of Iraq and Syria — may be a strategic defeat for ISIS, yet the jihadi terrorist group is very much alive. Its ideology, tactics and objectives have not altered. ISIS remains steeped in the ideology of “salafiya …

Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of harboring what it said was “the board of directors of al-Qaida” and rejected charges Riyadh was behind last week’s suicide car bombing that killed against 27 personnel of the Iranian Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

Islamic State fighters are refusing to surrender to U.S.-backed Syrian forces and are asking for a safe exit from their last stronghold in eastern Syria, local military officials told VOA Monday.

What do scoundrels do, when caught red handed in their shenanigans? According to an old proverb they wrap themselves in a flag and seek refuge in patriotism.