Middle Orient

Heavy clashes erupted on March 5 between Syrian regime forces and rebels near an intelligence headquarters the opposition had tried to seize in a spectacular attack, a monitor and security source said. “There are very heavy battles between regime forces and (rebel) fighters in the area of yesterday’s attack, with …

Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad is not a “credible” partner in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), French President Francois Hollande said March 5 after meeting Syria’s exiled opposition chief. Hollande said in a statement after meeting Khaled Khoja that Assad “is the main cause of his people’s suffering, …

Two cargo planes carrying Turkish military aid to Iraqi soldiers arrived in Baghdad on March 3, a Turkish official said, stressing that the assistance includes non-lethal military equipment aid for 500 soldiers of the central government. The military aid includes camouflage desert caps, assault vests, helmets, sleeping bags, blankets for …

Backed by allied Shiite and Sunni fighters, Iraqi security forces on Monday began a large-scale military operation to recapture Saddam Hussein’s hometown from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), state TV said, a major step in a campaign to reclaim a large swath of territory in northern Iraq controlled by …

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi met King Abdullah II of Jordan on Thursday as the two held a “closed session” in which they discussed concerted efforts in the “fight against terrorism”, a presidential statement said on Thursday. The statement added that military and security cooperation between the two states has …

The US-led coalition launched a total of 31 airstrikes in Syria and Iraq against ISIL between 8 a.m. on Thursday, and 8 a.m. on Friday, local time, the Combined Joint Task Force for Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) announced in a statement. In Syria, attack, fighter, bomber, and drone aircraft launched 20 …

The US has condemned the Islamic State’s attacks on predominantly Assyrian Christian villages in the northeast Syria and called for the immediate and unconditional release of the civilians taken captive. “ISIL’s latest targeting of a religious minority is only further testament to its brutal and inhumane treatment of all those …

Kurdish militia pressed a big offensive against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in northeast Syria Feb. 25, cutting one of its supply lines from Iraq, as fears mounted for dozens of Christians abducted by the hardline group that recently beheaded 21 Egyptian Copts. The new Kurdish offensive …

France deployed an aircraft carrier in the Gulf today as part of the US-led military campaign against the Islamic State jihadist group in Iraq, a defence ministry official said. “The integration of the Charles de Gaulle in the operation… (in Iraq) begins this morning,” a member of Defence Minister Jean-Yves …

The United Nations envoy to Syria said Feb. 17 he has received a commitment from the Syrian government to suspend airstrikes and artillery shelling on the city of Aleppo for six weeks to allow a proposed U.N. plan to “freeze” hostilities in the country’s largest city to be tested. Staffan …