Terrorism

By Ghazwan Hassan al-Jibouri | Tikrit | (Niqash.org) | – – While [the so-called ‘Islamic State’ group] ruled Tikrit, many locals joined. When they were beaten there, fighters fled, leaving family members behind. Today those relatives are harassed and cannot even leave their homes. Iraqi woman, Suniyad Mahmoud, lives in a small, mud house with […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

Reports: Reluctant Russian Soldiers Oppose ‘Secret’ Syria Mission

contributors

By Tom Balmforth | ( RFE/ RL ) MOSCOW — Several Russian soldiers are seeking help from human rights advocates to oppose what they say are secret orders to send them to Syria, according to media reports that add to evidence of a Russian military buildup in the war-torn Middle East country. The Gazeta.ru news […]

Iran

As Iran takes on ISIL/ Daesh, can it avoid the Sectarian Trap?

contributors

By Shahram Akbarzadeh | (Informed Comment) | – – In an obvious attempt to show initiative and good will, President Hassan Rouhani recently declared Iran’s readiness to discuss Syria with the United States and Saudi Arabia. With the nuclear deal looking likely to be endorsed by the US Congress and the Iranian Majlis – not […]

Displaced and Refugees

Refugees from the Phony Caliphate: Iraqis hire People Smugglers to escape Mosul

contributors

Special Correspondent | (Niqash.org) | – – Hassan Hafouzi* and his family paid people smugglers so they could leave Mosul, the city controlled by the so-called Islamic State group. Two days after they arrived in Istanbul, they told NIQASH how they got out. Don’t try to leave: The notorious al-Fath al-Mubin checkpoint on Mosul’s western […]

al-Qaeda

14 Years after 9/11, US, Israel Tempted to ally with Al-Qaeda in Syria

contributors

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Jabhat al-Nusra or Support Front is one of the major rebel groups in Syria, holding extensive territory in the hinterland of cities like Homs and Aleppo and in the province of Idlib. The Support Front is just al-Qaeda. It has announced allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahiri, […]

Chemical Weapons

ISIL’s campaign may be going chemical – why no international outcry?

contributors

Michelle Bentley | (The Conversation) | – – Evidence is mounting that [so-called] Islamic State (IS) [group] is using chemical weapons in Iraq and Syria – and yet this egregious crime, which once used to be a “red line” for the rest of the world, has yet to provoke a proportionate response. One the most […]

al-Qaeda

Russia Ramping up Military Involvement in Syria?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Reuters reports, based on sources in Beirut, that Russia is increasing its involvement in Syria, backing the military of beleaguered dictator Bashar al-Assad. Russia appears to be offloading tanks at its Tartous naval base on the Syrian coast, and may also be establishing an interior air […]

Iraq

Kurds unite, from Conservatives to Far Left, in Fight against ISIL

contributors

By Karlos Zurutuza | (Inter Press Service) | – – KIRKUK, Iraq (IPS) – Reminders of the last occupants of camp K1 in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk are only visible on the murals at the main gate leading into the compound: Iraqi soldiers saluting the flag, pointing their weapons or being cheered on […]

Authoritarianism

The 3000: Why have some Tunisians joined ISIL/Daesh in Syria?

contributors

by Youssef Cherif | (Middle East Center Blog, LSE Political Science) | – – Tunisia, regarded as the Arab ‘beacon of hope’ and the cliché of Arab secularism and liberalism, raises a lot of expectations. Hence the most pressing point when Tunisia is discussed rotates around the 3000 Tunisian fighters who joined the ranks of […]