Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

RFE/RL | – – The mainstream Muslim leadership in Russia’s Daghestan region has condemned an attack that killed five people outside a Russian Orthodox church, saying that the suspect had “nothing to do with the true Islam.” In a February 19 statement, the office of the region’s chief mufti also extended condolences to the relatives […]

al Qaeda in the Arabian Penisula

Trump’s Pentagon Admits to ‘Multiple Ground Missions’ in Yemen

Juan Cole

TeleSur | – – The U.S. Defense Department claimed the ISIS presence has doubled in Yemen. For the first time, U.S. Pentagon has admitted to carrying out “multiple ground missions” in Yemen. “U.S. forces have conducted multiple ground operations and more than 120 strikes in 2017,” U.S. Central Command, Centcom, in Tampa, Florida, said in […]

Counter-Terrorism

3 Ways ISIL Terrorism Will Continue even after the end of the “Caliphate”

contributors

By Brian Glyn Williams | (Informed Comment) | – – The Destruction of the Dream of Extremist Warfare, 2014-2017 On Saturday the Iraqi prime minister, Haider al Abadi, announced that the last remnants of Iraq territory had been liberated from ISIL and proclaimed “Dear Iraqis, your land has been completely liberated, and your towns and […]

Counter-Terrorism

With 305 dead in Sinai Terror, Trump babbles Wall & Visas

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – As the death toll in this weekend’s horrific terrorist attack on a Sufi mosque near El Arish in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula rose to at least 305, the patriarch of the Coptic Church, Tawadros II, affirmed the solidarity of Egypt’s some 8 million Christians with the Muslim […]

Counter-Terrorism

Iraq defeated ISIL, but can it defeat Extremism?

contributors

By Mustafa Habib | (Baghdad) | (Niqash.org) | – – The military campaign against the Islamic State is almost over. But now, locals and politicians alike say, the Iraqi government must work to ensure they cannot return to recruit more followers. Even as Iraq’s pro-government forces close in on Rawa, one of the very last […]

Bashar al-Assad

Syrian Army Liberates City of Deir Ezzor from ISIL

contributors

TeleSur | – – This marks a decisive defeat for the terrorist group which has seen its territory shrink at an exponential rate during 2017. The Syrian Army has declared a total military victory over the Islamic State group in Deir Ezzor city, the provincial capital of Deir Ezzor, an oil rich province that was […]

Iraq

The Fall of the House of ISIL: Reduced from State to Random Terror

contributors

John Feffer | ( Foreign Policy in Focus) | – – ISIL* is on the decline, but the catastrophic political divisions in Iraq and Syria that gave rise to it are no closer to being mended. The Middle East today is enduring a replay of World War II — with the Islamic State in the […]

Free Syrian Army

Syrian Army Seizes De Facto ISIL Capital

contributors

TeleSur | – – The Syrian Arab Army has reportedly taken over the [so-called] Islamic State group’s de facto capital of Al-Mayadeen. The Syrian Arab Army, SAA, has achieved full control over all districts within the city of Al-Mayadeen, according to Al-Masdar News, citing exclusive military sources. Al-Mayadeen in Deir Ezzor province has been functioning […]

Iraq

As ISIL dwindles, Iraq fears extremists fleeing Syria

contributors

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 […]