Search

The article discusses the possible victory of the Syrian government under President Bashar al-Assad in the Syria's Civil War, within the context of the government's gains in the campaign for Aleppo, Syria. The author claims that if Assad wins the war against rebel groups, he will have to contend with a poor economy and a post-war insurgency. Russia and Iran's potential roles in Syria's postwar future are discussed.

The article discusses conditions for Yazidi refugees fleeing attacks from Sunnite Muslim militants aligned with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremist organization in Iraq. Topics addressed include U.S. airstrikes and humanitarian assistance airdrops aimed at protecting the Yazidis, a lack of supplies for the refugees, and ISIS's campaign throughout Iraq's Kurdistan region.

The article discusses U.S. president Barack Obama's ordering of airstrikes against Sunni muslim militants in Iraq aligned with Islamic extremist organization the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Topics addressed include U.S. efforts to stop ISISs' advance towards the Kurdish capital city of Erbil, Iraq, as well as Obama's concerns that failing to act could lead to a situation similar to the 2012 attack of the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

The article discusses U.S. drone aircraft strikes and F-18 fighter jet strikes against Sunni Muslim militants in Iraq aligned with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) Islamic extremist organization. Topics addressed include U.S. efforts to stop ISIS's advance toward the Kurdish capital city of Erbil, Iraq, as well as U.S. president Barack Obama's reasoning for authorizing the strikes.

The article discusses Shiite militias responses to a Sunni Muslim insurgency in Iraq affiliated with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremist organization as of July 9, 2014. Topics addressed include the presence of Shiite militias in areas around the Iraqi city of Samarra, as well as the significance of defending a Shiite shrine in Samarra.

The article discusses the possibility that Iraqi politician and businessman Ahmad Chalabi could replace Nuri Kamal al-Maliki as prime minister of Iraq, highlighting conerns with Chalabi's past. Topics addressed include political reaction to a Sunni Muslim insurgency aligned with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremist organization, as well as Chalabi's political alliances amongst political parties in Iraq.

The article discusses sectarian-motivated murders of Sunni Muslims by Shiite Muslim militias within the city of Baghdad, Iraq as of June 25, 2014. Topics addressed include the impact of an insurgency of Sunnis affiliated with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremist organization, as well as a growing sense of fear amongst Sunnis in Baghdad as the number of Sunni disappearances and murders increases.

The article discusses assessments by U.S. and other Western officials that indicate that the Iraqi Army will be unable to effectively control a Sunni Muslim insurgency aligned with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremist organization as of June 23, 2014. Topics addressed include Iraqi cities that have been captured by ISIS militants, the strength of ISIS' personnel and assets, and the possibility that ISIS fighters could reach the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

The article discusses Iraqi prime minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki's decision to focus on recruiting Shiite Muslims to oppose Sunni Muslim militants aligned with Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremist organization who have captured a number of Iraqi cities, noting that Maliki has not focused on political reconciliation with Sunni Arabs and Kurds in Iraq. Topics addressed include Shiite politicians' concerns with Maliki's sectarian approach, as well as U.S. calls for involving the Sunnis.

The article discusses claims made by Sunni Muslim militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremist organization that the group had executed 1,700 Shiite Muslim Iraqi soldiers as of June 15, 2014. Topics addressed include photographs of the alleged killings that the group posted on the Internet, concerns that the claims could escalate sectarian conflict in Iraq, and the Iraqi government's response to the photographs.

The article discusses calls by Shiite Muslim cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani for Shiite Muslims in Iraq to take up armed opposition against Sunni Muslim militants aligned with extremist organization Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) who have captured a number of cities in Iraq as of June 14, 2014. Topics addressed include a possible U.S. and Iranian responses to the conflict in Iraq, as well the responses of Shiite militias and the Iraqi Army.

The article reports that Sunni insurgent groups in Iraq have begun a campaign of targeted assassinations of Iraqi government officials, especially police. At least 10 such attacks were staged on September 24-25, 2007, and scores of persons were killed, including two police chiefs. The two largest attacks were on meetings of tribal leaders and government officials to plan strategies against the insurgents.

The article discusses daylong fighting between Sunni militants, together with Fadhil neighborhood residents of Baghdad, against the Iraqi Army and U.S. troops on April 10, 2007. The conflict came after the Iraqi Army raided a mosque, killing two, reportedly including the muezzin. Shiite militias have been trying to dominate the neighborhood for more than a year.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- For years, American officials have struggled to curb Afghanistan's opium industry, rewriting strategy every few seasons and pouring in more than $6 billion over the past decade to combat the poppies that help finance the insurgency and fuel corruption. It is a measure of the problem's complexity that officials can find little comfort even in the news this month that blight and bad weather are slashing this year's poppy harvest in the south. They know from past seasons that blight years lead to skyrocketing opium prices and even greater planting efforts to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- In a further sign that the insurgents' spring offensive is under way, suicide bombers struck in western and southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing 16 people, according to Afghan officials in Herat and Helmand, where the attacks took place. A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yusuf, claimed that Taliban fighters were responsible for the attack in Helmand, but even hours after the bombing in Herat said he had no information on it. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- In an insurgency, everyone is an imposter. The enemy wears no uniform and carries no identity card. Just so with a mullah in Kandahar named Noorul Aziz. After trading his job as a Taliban commander for a cushy post as an Afghan government official, the story goes, he was taken last month by the military coalition on a tour of his old bases, where he made speeches to persuade the locals not to support the insurgency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- The prospect of talks with the Taliban inched closer on Thursday when the leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran met to explore ways of pushing the nascent peace process forward. The two-day trilateral meeting hosted by the Pakistani president, Asif Ali Zardari, comes as his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, claims to have opened direct discussions with the Taliban for the first time in the 11-year-old insurgency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Several Taliban negotiators have begun meeting with American officials in Qatar, where they are discussing preliminary trust-building measures, including a possible prisoner transfer, several former Taliban officials said Saturday. The former officials said that four to eight Taliban representatives had traveled to Qatar from Pakistan to set up a political office for the exiled Afghan insurgent group. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Detainees are hung by their hands and beaten with cables, and in some cases their genitals are twisted until the prisoners lose consciousness at sites run by the Afghan intelligence service and the Afghan National Police, according to a United Nations report released here on Monday. The report, based on interviews over the past year with more than 300 suspects linked to the insurgency, is the most comprehensive look at the Afghan detention system and an issue that has long concerned Western officials and human rights groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The Afghan government officially took control of security in the capital of Helmand Province on Wednesday as part of a sweeping effort to begin to disentangle Western forces from the country. Highlighting the risk to Afghan civilians as the transition got under way, however, insurgents struck in one of the provincial capitals that is scheduled to be handed over later this week. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- From the Taliban's hidden mud compounds to NATO's headquarters in Brussels and the Pentagon, combatants in a decade-long war are asking versions of the same question: How does Osama bin Laden's death change the struggle over who will control Afghanistan? For the Taliban, the jury is still out: they say their insurgency was never solely dependent on Bin Laden, and they could survive his demise, but the American raid that killed him has raised the possibility that even the movement's top leaders may not be safe in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

KABUL -- The Taliban announced that the insurgent group's spring fighting season would begin officially across Afghanistan on Sunday in an unusual news statement that aimed to project an image of strength and concern for civilians, even as NATO warned the public to expect insurgent efforts to launch a major attack. The United Nations special representative, Staffan de Mistura, meanwhile, said both sides should redouble their efforts to avoid killing civilians as the fighting is expected to ratchet up with the arrival of good weather. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

JALALABAD, Afghanistan -- NATO airstrikes killed at least 35 people in a remote mountainous area of eastern Afghanistan last week in an attack that NATO officers say was a successful mission against Taliban insurgents, but that Afghan officials have condemned as causing mass civilian casualties. A joint NATO and Afghan assessment team will go to the area Monday to investigate the casualty allegations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Attacks in four parts of the country left at least 18 people dead on Friday, including four NATO service members, four Afghan police officers and 10 civilians, signaling the tenaciousness of the insurgency even through the winter. The most lethal episode occurred in the southeast province of Khost, on the edge of the provincial capital of the same name, where a suicide bomber detonated a car packed with explosives near a police checkpoint in a crowded shopping area. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Eight Taliban insurgents were killed Wednesday after they attacked the NATO air base in the eastern Afghanistan border city of Jalalabad using a suicide car bomb and rocket-propelled grenades in a failed attempt to breach the gate, NATO said. The attack, similar to one carried out at Bagram Air Base near Kabul in May, began at 7:30 a.m. when a suicide bomber driving a car detonated his explosives at the eastern gate of the base. The explosion was followed by militants launching grenades and firing other weapons. The attack appeared to be intended to generate publicity and remind people of the Taliban presence. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A Pentagon report on the last six months in Afghanistan portrays an Afghan government with limited credibility among its people, a still active if not growing insurgency and an enormous reliance on American troops to train, outfit and finance the country's defense forces for the foreseeable future. The report, released on Wednesday, is mandated by Congress every six months. It points to some improvements, including an increased optimism among Afghans about their government and the slowing of the insurgency in places where NATO troops have concentrated their efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

KORANGAL OUTPOST, Afghanistan -- The last American soldier left here Wednesday, abandoning a base surrounded by tall cedar trees and high mountains, in a place that came to be called the Valley of Death. The near daily battles here were won, but almost always at the cost of wounded or dead. There were never enough soldiers to crush the insurgency, and after four years, it became clear that there was not much worth winning in this sparsely populated valley. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- President Obama personally delivered pointed criticism to President Hamid Karzai in a face-to-face meeting on Sunday, flying here for an unannounced visit that reflected growing vexation with Mr. Karzai as America's military commitment to defeat the Taliban insurgency has deepened. Mr. Obama's visit was shrouded in secrecy and lasted only a few hours, but included a boisterous pep rally with American troops. It was his first trip as president to the scene of an eight-year-old war he has stamped as his own. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Twenty-four hours after seven insurgents stormed a shopping center in downtown Kabul and immobilized the city, the shoemakers who ply their trade in front of the mall were back in business on Tuesday. Nearby, shopkeepers returned to hawk tapes of Madonna alongside recordings of Afghan and Bollywood stars, and a crowd of men joked with a man wearing a large shawl, because that was the same outfit the attackers wore on Monday to hide their guns. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Four United States soldiers died fighting in Afghanistan during a 24-hour period, NATO said Monday, as the Obama administration continued deliberations on increasing the number of American forces here. Three of the soldiers were killed Sunday in southern Afghanistan, one by insurgents firing small arms and two by a roadside bomb. The fourth died in eastern Afghanistan on Monday in a roadside bombing. American soldiers are primarily fighting in southern and eastern Afghanistan. NATO gave no further details in a statement on the deaths. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The United States military announced the deaths of a soldier and a Marine on Friday. The soldier, attached to the Multinational Corps in Iraq, died from wounds received in Diyala Province when his military patrol was attacked with a grenade on Thursday. The death of the Marine was in Anbar Province in a noncombat episode on Friday. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The American military said Wednesday that it was closely following the arrests of 15 leaders of the Awakening Councils, plus the threatened arrests of five others, but insisted that the detentions were not part of a deliberate Iraqi government campaign against these groups, which are mostly Sunni and include many former insurgents. Military officials say their fear is that the arrests, while relatively few so far, have created a public perception that the government is cracking down on the groups, which could undermine the Awakening program, widely credited with helping to end the insurgency in much of Iraq. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Eleven people died after Americans raided a house in the northern city of Mosul at dawn on Sunday and one of the residents detonated a suicide vest while others engaged in a gunfight, the American and Iraqi militaries said. The Americans said that after they entered the house in pursuit of a known insurgent, his companions opened fire and the insurgent detonated his vest. Three women and two children died during the raid, though it was unclear whether they were killed by the gunfire between the Americans and the insurgents or by the explosion. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents information on Iraq's budget for 2008. The country plans to spend $19bn on capital projects, including $900m in the capital, Baghdad. Senior officials warned that the fight against insurgency was still continuing. Deputy prime minister, Barham Salih, said that terrorism hampers the building of a country and so it has to be confronted. Although Baghdad would be allocated as least $300m for its operating budget, it was unclear whether it could spend the capital funds.

The article reports that insurgents killed 3 people and wounded 18 in a mortar attack on the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq. The three killed were an Iraqi citizen, an American soldier an a foreign citizen. The Zone has been the most protected area secured by multiple check points. The article also reports that sectarian violence as well as intra-shite fighting continued in other parts of Iraq.

The article reports that U.S. Vice President Richard B. Cheney has warned American soldiers in Iraq about the looming fight there. Addressing soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division and Task Force Lightning on May 10, 2007, Cheney told them that they are in the front in fight against global terrorism. In contrast to his earlier assessment about insurgency, he did not make any indication that the war will end soon. His visit to Iraq is second as vice president.

The article reports on the seizure of allegedly Iran-made arms and ammunition in Iraq. The American military officers captured arms in a Sunni majority area in Baghdad in the first week of April 2007. This indicates that Iran is providing aid to both Sunni and Shiite insurgents. However, some critics have cast doubt over the authenticity of the American accusation.

The article reports that Mudhafer al-Ubaidi, head of the Adhamiya District Council in Baghdad, Iraq, was killed on March 14, 2007. Gunmen opened fire on Ubaidi's unarmored car, killing him and his two escorts. On March 12, 2007, two days prior to his death, Ubaidi had discussed with a reporter, the trauma he and his family had been going through owing to the insurgent activities going on in the Sunni Arab neighborhood.

The article reports on recent incidents of attacks by insurgents in Iraq. Two Iraqi soccer players of local teams Muhammad Hammed Nawaf and Muhammad Meshaan were killed by masked gunmen on March 1, 2007 in Ramadi, Iraq. The armed men claimed that the players had ties with a group that opposed the Sunni insurgency. Bodies of 16 policemen were found in Iraq on March 2, 2007, a day after a militant Sunni Islamic group declared the kidnapping of 18 officers of the Shiite-dominated Interior Ministry.

The article focuses on the capture of the provincial capital of Kunduz, Afghanistan, by the terrorist organization the Taliban as of October 1, 2015. The author explains that while the fighting lasted only a few hours, the insurgency had been planning this campaign for at least two years, explores the role of the American-trained Afghan government, and examines the evacuation of the city prior to its capture.

The article discusses the impact of U.S. airstrikes against Sunni Muslim militants aligned with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremist organization, noting Kurdish forces' counterattacks against ISIS. Topics include political instability in Iraq due to the expiration of a deadline for Iraqi President Fouad Massoum to select a replacement for Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, as well as U.S. efforts to protect the Yazidi ethnic minority and the Kurdish capital city of Erbil, Iraq.

The article discusses Iraqi prime minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki's requests for U.S. aid in combating Sunni Muslim militants aligned with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremist organization who are seizing territory in Iraq as of June 11, 2014. Topics addressed include the administration of U.S. president Barack Obama's reluctance to engage in military action in Iraq following the removal of U.S. troops in 2011, as well as Iraqi requests for U.S. drone aircraft strikes.

The article offers world news briefs including the increased activity of North Korea at its underground nuclear test site, the anti-insurgent sweep launched by the French soldiers in Mali, and the opposition political party headed by World Boxing Council champion Vitali Klitschko in Ukraine.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The Afghan government has been talking about ending the American military's controversial campaign of night raids for years, but now they see an opportunity to actually do something about it. In continuing negotiations for a long-term strategic agreement between the two countries, the Afghans have made a no-compromise stand on abolishing or greatly limiting night raids, in which commandos go after people suspected of being insurgents in private homes rather than in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article looks at the civil war in Syria, reporting on the advance of the Islamic State (ISIS) militant group forces toward Aleppo, Syria, and on possible U.S. policies toward the conflict, including military air support to anti-ISIS groups. It cites claims that ISIS's military actions in the area are against other rebel groups holding territory in the Aleppo area and are going unchallenged by Syrian government troops under Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The article discusses U.S. airstrikes on Sunnite Muslim militants aligned with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremist organization, highlighting U.S. president Barack Obama's comments on a potential long-term commitment to further strikes. Topics addressed include U.S. efforts to defend the Yazidis, an ethnic and religious minority in Iraq; U.S. humanitarian assistance airdrops; and political instability within Iraq.

The article reports that as of August 7, 2014, the Jihadist organization Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have advanced in northern Iraq, taking control of the Mosul Dam after defeating the Kurdish pesh merga military force. It also notes that political leaders have met to appoint a replacement for Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, who has lost the support of the U.S. government.

A suicide bomber attacked a packed restaurant on Thursday where Sunni Arabs and Kurds were meeting to ease friction in the tense northern city of Kirkuk. At least 48 people were killed in the bombing, apparently aimed at provoking extremists along widening ethnic fault lines just as American plans to withdraw militarily from Iraq became official. Nearly 100 were wounded in the bombing, which was the deadliest in Iraq in six months. It occurred north of Kirkuk in a huge restaurant filled with as many as 3,000 people celebrating the end of the holiday Id al-Adha. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]