June, 2020

• 30 June

  Turkey arrests 42 over links to terror group PKK, including former HDP mayors

  Forty-two people, including former mayors of the pro-PKK Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), were detained for their suspected links to the PKK, a designated terrorist group that has waged a decadeslong insurgency against Turkey.

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• 30 June

  Powerful Islamist Group Intensifies Crackdown on Jihadists in Syria's Idlib

  A powerful Islamist militant group in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib has launched a military campaign against rival jihadist groups, local news reports and rights groups said Sunday.

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• 30 June

  DOJ appeals court's decision to release Hezbollah money man early

  The Justice Department argues Kassim Tajideen does not qualify to be freed on “compassionate grounds” due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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• 30 June

  UN envoy warns Israeli annexation may fuel extremism

  The UN’s Middle East envoy warned Thursday that Israel’s aim to annex parts of the occupied West Bank may fuel extremism and ignite a regional conflict.

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• 30 June

  Iraqi forces swoop on Iran-backed militiamen in Baghdad

  Iraqi security forces raided a stronghold of a powerful Iran-backed militia in southern Baghdad late on Thursday and detained more than a dozen members of the group, government officials and paramilitary sources said.

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• 30 June

  China's Undeclared War on India

  China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea — equipped with military bases, naval ports and airfields — pose a strategic threat to neighboring countries. In 2018, China landed nuclear strike-capable bombers on these artificial islands, sending an alarming message to the U.S. and regional powers.

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• 30 June

  Serbia and Kosovo

  U.S.-mediated talks scheduled for Saturday between Serbian and Kosovo leaders aimed at normalising relations were cancelled after a special prosecutor indicted Kosovo’s President Thaçi on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity relating to Kosovo’s 1998-9 conflict. Crisis Group expert Marko Prelec says the indictment could usher in seismic …

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• 30 June

  Iraq

  U.S. and Kurdistan Regional Government officials discussed ways to increase coordination between Kurdish and federal military forces in the disputed territories of Ninewa, Kirkuk, Salah al-Din and Diyala. Crisis Group expert Lahib Higel says that the multiplicity of competing regular and irregular forces in these areas has fueled local tensions, …

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• 30 June

  Iran’s influence in Afghanistan

  Despite strong religious and cultural ties and a long shared border, Iran has a somewhat complicated relationship with Afghanistan. Revolutionary Iran’s tumultuous birth coincided with the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan some four decades ago. Since then, Iran’s attempts to preserve its interests in conflict-ridden Afghanistan have not received much …

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• 30 June

  Is Ahmad al-Oda winning the “hearts and minds” of Daraa’s people?

  On June 20 a bus carrying soldiers from the Eighth Brigade of the Fifth Corps, travelling from Latakia to Busra al-Sham, hit a roadside improvised explosive device (IED) near the town of Kahil in eastern Daraa. The IED, consisting of an estimated 700 kg of explosives, blew the bus up …

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