Iraqi forces thrust north from the Euphrates Valley into the desert on Saturday, opening up a new front in the drive to flush out fugitive Daesh militants, a commander said. Daesh has already been driven from all the towns it once held, but Prime Minister Haider al Abadi has said …

The Iraqi army destroyed on Tuesday an Islamic State camp south of Ar-Rutbah town in Anbar, a military commander said. “The army’s 1st brigade destroyed an IS camp at a desert area near Ar-Rutbah town in Anbar,” Commander of Anbar Operations Major General Mahmoud al-Falahi told DijlahTv on Tuesday.

Talks aimed at ending the war in Syria restarted on Tuesday with the Damascus regime enforcing its will, warning the United Nations it would not tolerate any discussion of President Bashar al-Assad’s ouster from power. Assad’s negotiators did not travel to Geneva for the opening of the UN-backed talks, delivering …