Jabhat al-Nusra

By Sara Harmouch, American University A major offensive has seen rebel groups in Syria retake the country’s second city, Aleppo – and demonstrated the growing prominence of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in the 13-year-long civil war. The surprise advance was led by members of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, fighting alongside Turkish-backed groups opposing the […]

al Qaeda in the Arabian Penisula

The End of the “Global War on Terror”: Biden takes out Ayman al-Zawahiri (1951-2022)

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Joe Biden announced on Monday evening that a CIA-operated drone had killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, the second leader of al-Qaeda after Usama Bin Laden, on Saturday while he stood on the balcony of a Taliban safe house in Kabul. He was allegedly hosted by the Haqqani clan, one of whose […]

al-Qaeda

What will be the Mideast Crises facing Biden in the Coming Year? US Intelligence Threat Assessment

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Annual Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community is out. It has a Middle East section and a report on Afghanistan in the South Asia section. Although the threat assessment aims at highlighting potential threats to the US and US interests, I am struck by how little their analysis […]

Jabhat al-Nusra

Russia and Syria are committing War Crimes, Targeting Civilian Infrastructure

Human Rights Watch

Unlawful Attacks on Hospitals, Schools, Markets Forced Idlib Population Out

al Qaeda in the Arabian Penisula

Did the US War on Terror Displace 37 Million?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Brown University Watson Institute Costs of War Project has put out a report concluding that the US-led “War on Terror” has displaced 37 million people. While there are parts of the report I agree with, some of the argument seems to me flawed. Let me explain why that is, […]

Bashar al-Assad

Trump Supports Turkey against Putin-backed Russo-Syrian Campaign to Finish off Rebels in Idlib

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump called Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday and appeared to back Turkey against Russia and Syria with regard to the current Syrian Arab Army campaign in west Aleppo province and the province of Idlib. The Turkish press said that Trump thanked Erdogan for his efforts to avert a humanitarian […]

al-Qaeda

Is an al-Qaeda Front dominating 3 Million People in North Syria?

AFP

Throughout its numerous iterations, HTS has not altered its ideology and is still widely thought to maintain links with Al-Qaeda

Bashar al-Assad

Rescuers say cannot keep up with air strikes battering Syria’s Ghouta

contributors

Middle East Monitor | – – Rescuers in Syria’s eastern Ghouta said the bombing would not let up long enough for them to count the bodies, in one of the bloodiest air assaults of the seven-year war. Warplanes pounded the rebel enclave on Saturday, the seventh day in a row of a fierce escalation by […]

Bashar al-Assad

Will the US missile strike be the turning point in Syria’s shifting war?

contributors

By Harout Akdedian | (The Conversation) | – – The US has struck the Syrian airbase used to launch a suspected sarin gas attack against Khan Sheikhun that killed more than 80 civilians. US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson cited the chemical attack as the reason for their country’s first direct […]