America’s forgotten allies in Syria
Mar 18,2018 – JORDAN TIMES – Mahmoud Berkhdan AFRIN, SYRIA — On January 20, Turkey began targeting northern Syria with air strikes and heavy shelling in a campaign that it […]
US and Saudi Arabia arms significantly enhanced Isis’ military capabilities, report reveals
Number of US and Saudi supplied weapons in Isis’ hands goes ‘far beyond those that would have been available through battle capture alone’ Bethan McKernan Beirut @mck_beth Friday 15 December […]
View from Turkey: The Pentagon’s latest gamble with regional terrorism
MELIH ALTINOK @melihaltinok Earlier this week, the U.S. Embassy in Ankara announced that it would be closed to the public for two days. The mission gave a security threat as justification for the closure. Ankara said that it had heightened security measures, announcing that four Daesh militants had been […]
Hope among the ruins of Aleppo’s cultural heritage
Experts say a third of ancient Syrian city destroyed, but much can be restored Fri, Mar 17, 2017, Michael Jansen in Aleppo The ancient Aleppo Citadel was only lightly damaged. […]
Amateur hour in the Middle East
Feb 22,2018 – JORDAN TIMES – Gwynne Dyer On Sunday, it was revealed that the Syrian army has made a deal to help the Syrian Kurds, who are technically rebels, fight off the Turkish invasion of Afrin, a chunk of Syrian territory on the north-western border with Turkey that has […]
View from Turkey: Washington’s $5 billion gift to Iran
THE EDITORIAL BOARD ISTANBUL DAILY SABAH, ISTANBUL On Tuesday, a group of pro-Assad militias backed by Iran attempted to enter the Afrin town center just hours after Syrian state media announced the imminent deployment of regime forces to the area. Afrin has been under the control of […]
Turkey-US train crash has been avoided — for now
Yasar Yakis | Published — Monday 19 February 2018 With a view to lowering the tension in Turkish-American relations, US National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster […]
Syria jihadis put US weapons up for sale on Facebook
Weapons for sale on Facebook Credit: The Foreign Desk 25 February 2016 • This story originally appeared on The Foreign Desk Jihadis in Syria are using Facebook as a marketplace […]
Iraq says reconstruction after war on Daesh to cost $88 billion
By Thomson Reuters Foundation – Feb 12,2018 – JORDAN TIMES Participants walk past brochures of previous funds collected by the International Islamic Relief Organisation (IIRO), during the Kuwait International Conference for Reconstruction of Iraq on Monday, in Kuwait City (AFP photo) KUWAIT — Rebuilding Iraq after three years of […]
As IS shrinks in Syria, U.S.-led coalition grapples with foreign detainees
Reuters International This content was published on February 11, 2018 FILE PHOTO: Men, who the Democratic Forces of Syria fighters claimed were Islamic State fighters, […]
800 female Daesh terrorists detained in northern Syria
GERMAN PRESS AGENCY – DPA BERLIN Some 800 women who had joined Daesh are being detained in the Kurdish regions of northern Syria with their children, German newspaper Die Welt reported on Saturday, citing a terrorism expert from Human Rights Watch (HRW). Among the 800 were 15 German women, […]
Years late, Syria’s children of war learn to read and write
Reuters International This content was published on February 8, 2018 4:23 PMFeb 8, 2018 – 16:23 Hussein al-Khalaf, 13, reacts as he sits in a classroom at […]
View from Turkey: Proxy wars are over, when will the US wake up?
MELIH ALTINOK @melihaltinok The Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) have capitalized much on terrorists, especially since the 9/11 attacks. For instance, al-Qaeda – which emerged from among the […]
Israel’s double game with Daesh
Feb 07,2018 – JORDAN TIMES – Michael Jansen Israel is inadvisably but increasingly involved in conflicts raging in its northern and southern neighbours. In the north, Israel has for several years provided aid and comfort to Daesh, Al Qaeda, and other insurgents fighting the Syrian government. This began by offering […]
Battle over bodies rages quietly in Iraq’s Mosul long after Islamic State defeat
. Reuters International This content was published on February 5, 2018 Local residents carry bodies taken from the rubble in the Old City of Mosul, Iraq January 17, 2018. Picture […]
On the front line it seems as if Syria’s war against Islamists is far from over
Exclusive: All around Sinjar and its broken villages, there is mud. Tanks and guns always turn soil into brown liquid which quickly becomes bog Robert Fisk Sinjar, Northern Syria @indyvoices […]
View from Jordan: Ominous signs in Syria’s Afrin
Jan 22,2018 – JORDAN TIMES EDITORIAL Turkey’s military intervention in the northern Syrian city of Afrin under the code name “Olive Branch” will certainly complicate the already complicated conflict in Syria. Ankara has been threatening all along to strike at the so-called Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) deployed along its southern border with […]
Several people killed after gunmen attack luxury hotel in Kabul
Afghan special forces kill two of the four attackers and surround building as night falls Emma Graham-Harrison, Haroon Janjua in Peshawar and agencies Sat 20 Jan 2018 Several people were […]
The next Kurdish war is on the horizon – Turkey and Syria will never allow it to create a mini-state
Syria cannot countenance Kurdish presence on its territory and Turkey cannot tolerate a Kurdish enclave along its southern border, however secular, liberal and socialist it claims (not without reason) to be Robert Fisk Middle East Correspondent @indyvoices Thursday 18 January 2018 Colonel Thomas Veale has had the unenviable task of […]
View from Turkey: US insincerity in combating terrorism in the Middle East
SAADET ORUÇ @saadetoruc Helping PKK-affiliated factions to form a force in northern Syria will pave the way for Daesh to act more freely in the region The United States plan to charge terrorist factions in northern Syria with enhancing security has brought the role of Daesh and the international struggle […]