Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

ISIL or ISIS has collapsed as a state and its fighters face looming defeat

Syrian Army Seizes De Facto ISIL Capital

ISIL or ISIS facing final days as holder of territories as Damascus reclaims al Mayadeen

As ISIL dwindles, Iraq fears extremists fleeing Syria

Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | – – Iraqi forces are upset about the safe passage granted to Islamic State fighters from Syria. They will enter Iraq, where, locals say, thousands of their comrades await them in the extremists’ secret capital. Last week, Lebanese officials confirmed that around 670 defeated members of the extremist […]

Books

Mosul Youth rescue Books and Music in wake of ISIL Defeat

contributors

Special Correspondent | Mosul | (Niqash.org) | – – Two projects in Mouls show a different side to the devastated northern Iraqi city, as younger people there celebrate the end of the ISIL’s reign. The fighting is all but done in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul and the damage caused by three years of […]

Hizbullah

Hezbollah and Syrian Army Liberate Large ISIL Enclave: Nasrallah

contributors

By TeleSur | – – Following the joint offensive, the Islamic State group only controls 40 square kilometers on the Syrian side, and 20 on the Lebanese side. A joint offensive between Shia resistance movement Hezbollah and the Syrian army has liberated the majority of a significant enclave controlled by the so-called Islamic State group, […]

Counter-Terrorism

Can Iraq save Tal Afar from ISIL without Destroying the City?

contributors

By Mustafa Habib | (Niqash.org) | – – [N.B. The offensive against ISIL (Daesh) in Tal Afar began on Sunday. – JC] Intensive air raids, secret political talks and military forces gathering on the outskirts of the city: Everything points to the battle of Tal Afar – almost the extremists’ last stand in Iraq . […]

Afghanistan

ISIL in Afghanistan Resilient despite Kabul Offensive

contributors

By Frud Bezhan. | ( RFE/RL) | – – A relentless air-and-ground campaign against the [so-called] Islamic State [group] (IS) affiliate in Afghanistan does not appear to have radically diminished that militant group’s ability to inflict deadly attacks or prevented it from expanding its geographical reach in the war-torn country, analysts asked to assess progress […]

Featured

Trump Pledged to Carpet Bomb ISIL, but Little Lebanon is Taking them On

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Lebanese Army has mobilized to clean out an ISIL enclave in a mountainous region on the border with Syria, Jurud al-Qaa and Jurud Ra’s Baalbak. Some 600 ISIL terrorists had controlled about 36 square miles in the hills, but already on late Saturday, one day […]

Counter-Terrorism

Are ISIL recruits more street gang members than zealots?

contributors

By James L. Gelvin | (The Conversation) | – – The recent terrorist attacks in Spain and Finland once again compel us to ask: Who joins the [so-called] Islamic State [group], and why? As a professor of modern Middle Eastern history, I have spent the majority of my professional life studying the region, its culture, […]