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The article reports on the Taliban government or the 1990s ultimately managed to reduce opium cultivation, and after the U.S. Ied invasion in 2001, opium taxes and smuggling helped fuel the Taliban's own 20-year insurgency.

The article focuses on Confederate Symbols Came Tumbling Down.

A personal narrative is presented in which the author recounts traveling with Iraqi counterterrorism forces that were attacked by a vehicle bomb in Bartella, Iraq by the extremist group the Islamic State (ISIS).

The article discusses the mass Hindu pilgrimage of 2019, known as Kumbha Mela in Prayagraj, India, for which Hindus gather to bathe in sacred Ganges River.

The article presents the author's views on his experience of accompanying the Iraqi armed forces on their mission to reclaim Falluja city from terrorist group Islamic State (ISIS) in June 2016. Falluja was reportedly the first city to be seized by ISIS in 2014 which forced all civilians to flee their homes. Also discussed are ISIS' strategies to fight the counterterrorist groups, torture operations, and the counterterrorism forces' success in recapturing Falluja.

The article focuses on history of China which was united under Communist rule grinding out an existence of profound rural poverty and isolation and mention establishment of cottage industry in which cave dwellers earn money by renting rooms in their homes.

The article informs that in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, around 80 percent of Ulan Bator's air pollution is produced by just over half the population, living in the so-called ger districts in the north of the city, named for the traditional nomadic dwelling central to Mongolians' herding lifestyle.

The article discusses the withdrawal of the U.S. military from Afghanistan in February 2013, with information on the role of the U.S. in Afghanistan's war against the terrorist organization the Taliban. Topics include the preparation of the Afghan military to take over operations previously led by U.S. troops; the vulnerability of American soldiers in the days before their departure; and attacks by militants at the U.S. outpost Strong Point Haji Rahmuddin II.

The article reports that the campaign to retake the city of Mosul, Iraq from the terrorist group Islamic State has started on October 17, 2016, with Iraqi security forces, Kurdish forces and U.S air support comprising the group involved in the effort.

A personal narrative is presented which explores the author's experience of visiting the remains of the historic sites in Palmyra, Syria which was destroyed by the Islamic State terrorist group.

The article reflects on the confict encountered by Colonel Imad Muhammad who is an officer in the pesh merga after the Islamist extremists surrounded northern Iraq.

COMBAT OUTPOST SANGESAR, Afghanistan -- A burst of gunfire snapped First Sgt. Joseph Hissong awake. Then came another, and another, all with the familiar three-round bursts of an American assault rifle -- and the unfamiliar sound of its rounds being fired in his direction. The shooters were close. His first thought: ''Are Taliban inside the wire?'' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TRIPOLI, Libya -- Rebel negotiators have resumed talks with loyalist holdouts in the desert town of Bani Walid in an effort to persuade them to surrender peacefully before a Sept. 10 deadline set by the interim government, Libyan officials said Monday. Striking notes of increasing confidence, rebel officials announced they had made progress on several nonmilitary fronts. A group of rebel officials took a visiting United Nations envoy on a tour of their main detention center, Jadida Prison, while others announced that water service had been restored to Tripoli, the capital. Also, the government's acting economy minister said badly needed cash had begun flowing in from abroad after some of the country's foreign bank accounts were unfrozen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the Taliban announced on Sunday that cultivating opium poppy in Afghanistan was banned, a move that will have far-reaching consequences for the many farmers who have turned to the illicit crop as a brutal drought and economic crisis have gripped the country.

The article discusses Turkey's possible involvement in an alliance with the United States aimed at pursuing military action to combat the Islamic State (ISIS) extremist organization in Syria. Topics addressed include Turkey's wariness of becoming involved in Syria's civil war due to concerns that it will enhance the power of Kurdish separatist movements, as well as conflict between ISIS and Kurdish fighters in Kobani, Kurdistan.

The article reports that Syrian Kurdish refugees are flooding the border with Turkey as the extremist Sunni militant group Islamic State has stepped up attacks on Kurds and Syrian towns like Kobani.

The article reports on the plan of the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama to implement a no-fly zone over northeastern Syria to protect civilians from airstrikes by the Syrian government.

The article reports that nameless men which were described by the mourners as thugs hired by the government, made sure that only bereaved family members can approach the Zeinhom morgue and prevented journalists from interviewing family members of the dead in Cairo, Egypt on August 20, 2013.

LAAYOUNE, Western Sahara -- Dozens of buildings are still blackened from fire on this remote desert city's main boulevard, their windows shattered, their doors boarded up. A hostile silence has reigned since the riot that broke out here last month, leaving 11 Moroccan officers dead and hundreds of people injured. The violence -- the worst seen here in decades -- has renewed a long-festering conflict between Morocco, which governs Western Sahara, and the separatist Polisario Front, based in and supported by neighboring Algeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lebanese Army announced on Monday evening that it would start using force to stop fighting between supporters of the governing coalition and the Hezbollah-led opposition, a step the army had not taken during almost a week of sectarian violence that recalled the country's 15-year civil war. The announcement was made as violence eased across Lebanon, despite some renewed street battles in the north. Tensions were still high in the Chouf mountains overlooking Beirut, where armed fighters remained on the roads after a day and night of fierce clashes that appeared to have left dozens of people dead. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on the security and the safety aspects at various airports in several countries, and the efforts to prevent terrorism. Topics discussed include the terrorist attack at Istanbul Ataturk Airport in Turkey on July 28, 2016 highlighted the difficulty in airport security, the absence of security at the terminal entrance at Brussels Airport in Belgium, and the responsibility of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration for the passenger screening checkpoints in the country.

The article reports on the northern city seized by the Sunni extremist militants in a battle with the Iraqi Army after having ambushed untrained Shiite volunteers' convoy in the first encounter between Shiite and Sunni combatants when the government started mobilizing thousands of Shiites in 2014.

The article reports that Syrians in Lebanon have gathered outside a polling station in Yarze on May 28, 2014 to cast their votes in the presidential election participated by President Bashar al-Assad and other two candidates.

The article reports on the death of a former Lebanese finance minister, Mohamad B. Chatah in a bomb attack in Beirut, Lebanon, and its impact on the country's relations with Syria.

TRIPOLI, Libya -- In the final weeks of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi's battle with Libyan rebels, Chinese state companies offered to sell his government large stockpiles of weapons and ammunition in apparent violation of United Nations sanctions, officials of Libya's transitional government said Sunday. They cited Qaddafi government documents found by a Canadian journalist, which the officials said were authentic. The documents, including a memo from Libyan security officials detailing a shopping trip to Beijing on July 16, appear to show that state-controlled Chinese arms companies offered to sell $200 million worth of rocket launchers, antitank missiles, portable surface-to-air missiles designed to bring down aircraft, and other weapons and munitions. The documents, in Arabic, were posted on Sunday on the Web site of The Globe and Mail, a Toronto newspaper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]