Eurasia Press & News

U.S.-backed fighters gained ground against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the streets of Raqqa on June 7, a day after their months-long offensive finally broke into the jihadists’ Syrian bastion. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia has spent seven months advancing on the city, with …

Germany will pull all of its troops and aircraft from Turkey’s Incirlik airbase, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen announced on June 7. Approximately 270 troops stationed at Incirlik, as well as Tornado reconnaissance jets and a refueling plane, will be moved to Jordan over the next two months. …

Turkey’s parliament has approved a draft bill allowing its troops to be deployed to a Turkish military base in Qatar, an apparent move to support the Gulf Arab country when it faces diplomatic and trade isolation from some of the biggest Middle Eastern powers.

The African Union and the United Nations are proposing major cuts to their joint peacekeeping force in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region, paring down one of the world’s largest and costliest peace operations. A joint report sent to the UN Security Council last month recommends that the ceiling set for military …

The UN force commander in the Central African Republic is calling for hundreds of peacekeepers from the Democratic Republic of Congo to be sent home for sexual abuse, fuel trafficking and poor discipline, according to a confidential memo released Tuesday.

Dozens of Syrian refugees remained stranded in no-man’s land between Morocco and Algeria on Tuesday, non-governmental groups said, despite an Algerian offer to help. Algiers said last week it would take in the refugees after the United Nations urged both sides to help the Syrians, who include a pregnant woman …

France’s minister of defence, Sylvie Goulard, expressed praise for Al-Azhar on Monday; for his role in fighting extremist ideology, as well as Egypt’s international influence in combating terrorism. According to a press statement, the conversation occurred during a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and …

Algerian Foreign Minister Abdelkader Messahel said Monday that the countries of the region have to maintain continuous coordination to face together challenges when he held talks with visiting Egyptian and Tunisian counterparts. “The situation in Libya and the importance of permanent coordination at the level of Libya’s neighboring countries, particularly …

The foreign ministers of Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt have held a tripartite meeting on Monday in Algeria, to discuss the situation in Libya and find a political solution for the crisis in order to tackle later security issues, especially combating ISIS. The meeting, which will end today, will be followed …

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister is expected to meet with his Egyptian counterpart amid efforts to resolve differences on the Syrian conflict and other regional flashpoints. In October, the Saudis halted oil shipments to Cairo after it voted in favor of a UN resolution favorable to the Syrian government. They were …