Tag Archives: ISIS

At least 10 oil field workers were killed Thursday in an attack on their bus in eastern Syria’s Deir Ezzor province, state media reported. “Ten workers at the Al-Kharata oil field were martyred and another was wounded in a terrorist attack on a bus transporting them back from work,” the …

Saudi Arabia announced that it was opening the consular section in its embassy in the Afghani capital of Kabul as of Tuesday to provide consular services to Afghani citizens, state news agency (SPA) reported. In August, Saudi evacuated all of its diplomats from the embassy in Kabul after the Taliban …

The United Arab Emirates has held talks with the Taliban to run Kabul airport, going up against Gulf rival Qatar in a diplomatic tussle for influence with Afghanistan’s new rulers, according to four sources with knowledge of the matter. UAE officials have held a series of discussions with the group …

The United States and Qatar signed an accord on Friday for Qatar to represent U.S. diplomatic interests in Afghanistan, an important signal of possible future direct engagement between Washington and the Taliban after two decades of war. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Qatari counterpart, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman …

A Taliban military commander was killed when his men responded to a Daesh suicide bomb and gun attack on a hospital in the Afghan capital, officials said Wednesday. The Taliban spent 20 years waging an insurgency against the ousted US-backed government before seizing control of Kabul in August. Now they …

At least 19 people were killed and 50 others wounded in an attack on a military hospital in Kabul on Tuesday, the latest assault to rock Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power. The attack got under way when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives near the entrance of the sprawling …

The United States said Thursday that a base in Syria used by the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group was attacked with drones and artillery. No US personnel were injured in the attack Wednesday at the Al-Tanf base, said Captain Bill Urban, a spokesman for CENTCOM. “We can confirm …

Suicide bombers assaulted a Shiite mosque in southern Afghanistan that was packed with worshippers attending weekly Friday prayers, killing at least 37 people and wounding more than 70, according to a hospital official and an eyewitness. The attack on the Imam Barga mosque came a week after a bombing claimed …

One Syrian soldier was killed and three others were wounded in an Israeli air attack on Syria’s Palmyra area in the province of Homs on Wednesday evening, the Syrian Defense Ministry said. The attack took place at 23:34 local time (2034 GMT) and targeted a communications tower and caused some …

Turkish intelligence helped Iraq capture a senior Islamic State leader who had been hiding out in northwestern Syria, three security sources said on Tuesday, in an operation that points to closer cooperation against remnants of the jihadist group. Iraq announced on Monday that its security forces had captured Sami Jasim, …

Soldiers, prisoners and displaced people voted in special early polls in Iraq on Friday as the country prepared for a Sunday general election where turnout will show how much faith voters have left in a still young democratic system. Many Iraqis say they will not vote https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iraqis-vote-ballot-marked-by-growing-social-political-fractures-2021-09-28, having watched established …

A suicide bomb attack on a mosque in the Afghan city of Kunduz has killed at least 50 people, officials say, in the deadliest assault since US forces left. Bodies were seen scattered inside the Said Abad mosque, used by the minority Shia Muslim community. More than 100 people were …

At least 350,209 people have been killed in the decade-old war in Syria, the United Nations human rights office said on Friday in its first report since 2014 on the death toll, adding that the tally was an “undercount”. The figure includes civilians and combatants and is based on strict …

Cooperation and solidarity is the world’s “only choice” in the fight against global terrorism, Iraqi President Barham Salih said. Speaking at the UN General Assembly, Salih told fellow world leaders that his country had been dogged by wars and genocides over the past 40 years. “We have known mass graves, …

A powerful mix of insecurity and traditional prejudice against more liberal female politicians put Awatef Rasheed off running for parliament when she returned to Iraq in 2014 after years abroad.Nada al-Jubori, a candidate in Iraq’s upcoming parliamentary elections, speaks to her supporters in Baghdad, Iraq September 9, 2021. Seven years …

Foreign forces being deployed in Syria without a decision by the United Nations are a hindrance to its consolidation, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Bashar al-Assad, the president of the Middle Eastern nation on Monday. The Kremlin said the comments came during a meeting of the two men in the …

Explosives-laden drones targeted Irbil international airport in northern Iraq late Saturday where US-led coalition troops are stationed with no reports of casualties, according to security forces and officials in Kurdish-run region. Kurdistan’s Counter-Terrorism Service said at least two drones carrying explosives targeted the airport in a statement. It said the …

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will travel to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait next week, the Pentagon said on Friday, in a “thank you” tour for allies and troops that helped in the massive U.S.-led airlift from Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover. Austin planned to leave on Sunday and …

Qatar’s foreign minister on Tuesday warned that isolating the Taliban could lead to further instability and urged countries to engage with the hardline Islamist movement to address security and socioeconomic concerns in Afghanistan. The U.S.-allied Gulf Arab state has emerged as a key interlocutor to the Taliban, having hosted the …

When Ezmarai Ahmadi returned home from work on Sunday evening in Kabul, the usual gaggle of squealing children were waiting to greet him — his sons and daughters, and a slew of nieces and nephews. He pulled his white sedan into the driveway of a modest house in Kwaja Burga, …

France, Britain and Germany are working on a United Nations proposal aimed at establishing a safe zone in Kabul to allow safe passage for people trying to leave Afghanistan, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday. Macron, who said France had begun discussions with the Taliban to explore how further …

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday visited the Daesh group’s former Iraqi stronghold Mosul, a day after vowing to keep troops in the country. Macron made the commitment during a regional summit in Baghdad largely devoted to the fight against terrorism and the impact of the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan as the …

The Taliban will ask Qatar for technical assistance in operating Kabul airport, Qatari based Al Jazeera news channel reported on Friday citing a source in the Islamist movement. The Taliban have asked Turkey for technical help to run the airport after next Tuesday’s deadline for all foreign military forces to …

The first White House meeting between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was postponed until Friday, overshadowed by suicide bombings near Kabul airport during a chaotic U.S. evacuation mission from Afghanistan. Two deadly explosions https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/western-nations-race-complete-afghan-evacuation-deadline-looms-2021-08-25 occurred on Thursday just hours before Biden and Bennett were due to …

A fighter jet with the U.S.-led coalition shot down a drone in eastern Syria on Saturday after the unmanned aircraft was deemed a threat, the U.S. military said. “Coalition aircraft successfully engaged and defeated a UAS through air to air engagement in the vicinity of Mission Support Site Green Village,” …

The US and other Western coalition members should increase their ground forces in Iraqi Kurdistan in order to head off the threat of a resurgent terror campaign in the region, one of the main fighters against Daesh and Iran-backed militias told Arab News. General Sirwan Barzani, who commands a key …

Two Turkish soldiers were killed and two were wounded in an attack on their armoured vehicle in northern Syria, and Turkish forces immediately launched retaliatory fire, Turkey’s defence ministry said on Saturday. “Our punitive fire against terrorist positions is continuing,” the statement on Twitter on said. It said the attack …

It was March 17, 2017. Troops from the US-led coalition fighting militants in Iraq were advancing on Mosul’s Old City, squeezing out the Daesh militia. But just months before the recapture of the city, where Daesh had declared its caliphate in 2014, a new human toll was added to the …

The United States told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that it targeted Iran-backed militia in Syria and Iraq with airstrikes to deter the militants and Tehran from conducting or supporting further attacks on US personnel or facilities. Under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, the 15-member Security Council …

The US has carried out air strikes against Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria border region. Sunday’s strikes hit “operational and weapons storage facilities”, in response to drone attacks on US forces, the Pentagon said in a statement. President Joe Biden would “act to protect US personnel”, it added. The Pentagon …

 A draft UN Security Council resolution circulated Friday would authorize the delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria across the borders of Turkey and Iraq, but Syria’s close ally Russia holds the key to its adoption. Russia has come under intense pressure from the UN, US and others who warn of …

US President Joe Biden did not secure a commitment from his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Wednesday to renew a UN cross-border aid operation into Syria, a senior administration official said ahead of an expected showdown over the issue at the United Nations Security Council next month. Washington and several …

Dozens of medical workers in opposition-held northwest Syria on Monday protested a decision to grant Bashar Assad’s regime a seat on the executive board of the World Health Organization.  They said Assad is responsible for bombing hospitals and clinics across the war-ravaged country. The decision to give Syria a seat …

Lebanese Foreign Minister Charbel Wehbe has quit after provoking widespread anger and condemnation for suggesting that Gulf states were to blame for the rise of Daesh, with lawyers submitting a complaint against him for breaching his duties and “committing crimes that threaten national unity.”  Wehbe faced a barrage of criticism …

The UN chief said foreign fighters and mercenaries remain in Libya in violation of last October’s ceasefire agreement and called for their withdrawal and an end to violations of the UN arms embargo, saying these are “critical elements” for lasting peace in the north African country and the region. Secretary-General …

Egypt and Turkey on Thursday held talks on the conflict in Libya, where they back competing factions, on Syria and the security situation in the eastern Mediterranean, in a push to rebuild their fractured relations. The discussions, held over two days and led by deputy foreign ministers, were the first …

Pakistan is ready to share its “vast and valuable experience” with the Philippines in its war against terror to strengthen ties between the two nations, particularly in security and cultural diplomacy, Pakistani Ambassador to the Philippines Imtiaz Kazi said in an exclusive interview with Arab News. “Pakistan can rightly claim …

Four people were killed and 20 wounded in a car bomb attack on Thursday in the Sadr City neighbourhood of Baghdad, Iraqi police and medical workers said. The car was parked at a busy second-hand equipment market in the mainly Shi’ite Muslim district, police said. An Iraqi military statement said …

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani will put forward a three-phase peace roadmap for Afghanistan during a proposed meeting in Turkey, seeking an agreement with the Taliban and a ceasefire before elections, a document seen by Reuters shows. Washington is pushing for a conference to be hosted by Turkey, with U.N. involvement, …

Forces in Zawiya in western Libya on Wednesday released more than 100 captives taken from Khalifa Haftar’s eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) to solidify a months-long ceasefire and moves towards national unity. The men had been held since April 2019 when Haftar launched an assault to seize control of the …

U.S. intelligence agencies have told the Biden administration that the Taliban could overrun most of Afghanistan within two to three years if U.S. troops leave before a power-sharing deal is reached between the warring sides, a news report said on Friday. Such a takeover potentially would allow al Qaeda to …

The Biden administration is looking to keep U.S. troops in Afghanistan past a May 1 deadline while exploring a deal in which the Taliban would allow a U.S. counter-terrorism force to remain as they confront their Islamic State foes, a top U.S. lawmaker said on Wednesday. House of Representatives Armed …

Pope Francis on Sunday met the father of Alan Kurdi, the boy whose body washed up on a Turkish beach six years ago became an image of the suffering of Syrians trying to escape war. The pontiff, winding up a historic trip to Iraq, met Abdullah Kurdi at the end …

Pope Francis headed to Iraq on Friday for his most risky foreign trip since his election in 2012, and said he felt duty-bound to make the “emblematic” visit because the country had suffered so much for so long. An Alitalia plane carrying him, his entourage, a security detail, and about …