Middle Orient

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 …

Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi has urged Turkey to swiftly withdraw its military forces from his country’s northern territories. Al-Abadi made his remarks Wednesday while meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Baghdad.

The Lebanese army continued for a third consecutive day to target ISIS group positions on the country’s eastern border with Syria after capturing a third of the territory held by militants in the area. The army had begun its operation in the Arsal, Baalbek and Jurud al Qaa region early …

US Defence Secretary James Mattis arrived Monday in the Jordanian capital Amman, state-run news agency Petra reported, part of a tour that also includes stops in Turkey and Ukraine. Mattis met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, where they discussed Syrian safe zones, the refugee crisis the war has produced, and …

U.S. forces are taking part in an ongoing military operation to dislodge the Daesh terrorist group from Iraq’s northwestern Tal Afar district, according to an Iraqi military source. “U.S. forces stationed at the Kahrez base are pounding Daesh positions inside the city,” Army Captain Ihab al-Yasseri said on Monday.

Iraqi troops have retaken five villages in Tal Afar town, located northwest of Iraq, from Islamic State, Tal Afar Operations Command announced on Monday. In a statement by the Joint Operations Command and the War Media Cell, Lt.Gen. Abdul Amir Yarallah said the army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Service managed to free …

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Saturday will begin a five-day trip to Jordan, Turkey and the Ukraine, Pentagon officials announced Friday. The trip is intended “to reaffirm the enduring US commitment to strategic partnerships,” the officials said. Mattis will begin his engagements Monday in Jordan by meeting with King …

Iraq: The pro-government Popular Mobilization Forces will field 20.000 fighters for the anticipated offensive to retake the town of Tal Afar, Islamic State’s last bastion i Nineveh province, a spokesperson said. PMF spokesman Ahmed al-Assadi said Friday that 20.000 fighters will take part in the imminent battle, saying that the …

The wires protruding from the small, misshapen stuffed animal revealed the deadly booby-trap tucked inside. For the people of Mosul, the sophisticated bomb was a reminder of how difficult it will be to return to homes littered with hidden explosives by Daesh militants and dotted with the remnants of undetonated …