Middle Orient

US President Barack Obama is sending 450 additional US troops to help Iraqi forces seize back control of the western city of Ramadi from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadists. Of the 450 troops heading to Anbar province within six to eight weeks, less than 100 …

US President Barack Obama on June 10 approved the deployment of 450 more US military trainers to Iraq, a cautious bid to reverse gains by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group. The White House said the forces will join an already 3,100-strong mission to “train, advise …

Three militants disguised in military uniform killed at least eight people in a local government office in Amiriyat al-Falluja in western Iraq on June 9, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

At least 49 civilians, including children, were killed by warplanes of the Syrian regime at an area in Idlib in northwestern Syria, a monitoring group said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that the regime aircraft committed a “massacre” by bombarding a public yard in Al-Janodia village in …

The White House says President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande are in agreement on some of the world’s vexing problems, including Russia’s actions in Ukraine and keeping Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The two leaders met June 8 on the sidelines of a summit of the Group of …

Kurdish forces have driven the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group from more than a dozen Assyrian Christian villages that the jihadists had captured in northeastern Syria, a monitor said May 27. “Following a 10-day offensive, Kurdish fighters took control early this week of 14 Assyrian villages …

US Vice President Joseph Biden has pledged “full support” for Iraqi efforts to retake territories lost to the Islamic State, as Baghdad bristled at the Pentagon chief’s criticism of Iraqi forces over the battle against the extremist group.

Some 123 U.S. soldiers arrived in Turkey for training of moderate Syrian opposition, along with weapons that are being transferred to İncirlik Airbase for equipping part of the program. Syrians, who will be trained in Hirfanlı military base in Kırşehir, will be transferred to southern Hatay where they will be …

Greece will launch consultations with Egypt and Greek Cyprus to establish maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on April 29. Tsipras, who was visiting Greek Cyprus, said those boundaries – which are normally a precursor to a state licensing for offshore oil and gas exploration …

France opposes foreign intervention in Lebanon but will do its best to encourage the election of a new president as soon as possible, French President François Hollande said Tuesday. “France is ready to take initiative in international gatherings to speed up the presidential election process,” Hollande told Maronite Patriarch Beshara …