Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

By Juan Cole al-Khalij [The Gulf] (Sharjah, UAE) reports that the Syrian Human Rights Observatory says ISIL fighters are now in one third of the Syrian Kurdish city of Kobane (`Ayn al-`Arab). The radical fundamentalists have advanced into the besieged city despite a new round of US and other bombings on its outskirts. In contrast […]

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The Last Days of Kobani Loom as ISIL Closes in on Syrian Kurds with Murder on its Mind

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole ISIL fighters have advanced into the Kurdish Syrian city of Kobane (`Ayn al-`Arab), with fighting in the streets as Kurds resist, according to the pan-Arab daily, al-Hayat [Life]. Kobane, a city ordinarily of about 50,000, is the third biggest town in the Kurdish part of Syria (the far northeast). ISIL has taken […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

Why is Kobani Important? ISIS advances against Syrian Kurds despite US Airstrikes

contributors

AJ+ “The Islamic State Group (aka ISIS or ISIL) is knocking on the doors of Kobani, a Syrian town on the border of Turkey. Desperate Kurdish fighters have been battling them for weeks. But it’s not looking so good.” AJ+ “ISIS Prepares To Take Kobani Despite U.S. Airstrikes”

Displaced and Refugees

You’ll Never Believe what ISIL has done to Iraq’s al-Anbar Population

contributors

BAGHDAD/DUBAI, 6 October 2014 (IRIN) – Nine months of shelling, airstrikes and street battles have taken a heavy toll on Iraq’s “forgotten” province of Anbar, the first to be overrun by militants from the group now calling itself the Islamic State (IS). The cities of Ramadi and Fallujah have been reduced to bombed-out wrecks: hospitals, […]

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Pan-Mideast War: ISIL and al-Qaeda attack Hizbullah outposts Near Lebanese Border

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole ISIL and al-Qaeda have, according to Hizbullah, launched attacks in Syria’s Qalamoun district (abutting the Lebanese border near Baalbek) on Hizbullah military outposts on the Syrian side. Hizbullah is acting in Syria as an adjunct to the Syrian Baath Army and helped reduce Qusayr and Homs last spring. The Syrian rebels were […]

Iraq

Kurdish Forces Under-equipped, Need ground troop Allies: Peshmerga General

contributors

RFE/RL In an interview with Samira Ali Mandee of RFE/RL’s Radio Free Iraq, General Jabbar Yawar, secretary-general of the Peshmerga Ministry of Iraq’s Kurdish region, discusses the ongoing fight against Islamic State militants, cooperation with Iraqi and outside militaries, and the mood on the front. RFE/RL: Could you tell us about the security developments along […]

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The Alamo of the Kurds: Kobane Near Falling to ISIL

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Ismat Sheikh, commander of the Kurdish forces at the border town of Kobane (Ain al-Arab) that is besieged by ISIL tanks and artillery, says that he expects massacres of its inhabitants if it falls to the Sunni Arab extremists. He warned that ISIL fighters are less than a mile from his front […]

Education

In Iraqi Classrooms, Sunni Muslim Extremists Ban Evolution, Patriotism And Literature

contributors

By Ahmad Mohammed | Kirkuk | via Niqash.org In areas under the control of Sunni Muslim extremists, teachers have been issued a special set of instructions. Among other things they say that males and females are to be separated, all mentions of evolution are to be removed from textbooks and anything that encourages patriotism –like […]

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7 Surprising Reasons Turkey is entering war on ISIL

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole The Turkish parliament voted by a large margin Thursday to allow Turkish troops to make incursions into neighboring countries if necessary to defeat the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). This authorization is necessary according to the Turkish constitution. Likewise, parliament voted to allow foreign troops involved in the […]