BEIRUT | BY TOM PERRY REUTERS.COM Fighters of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) stand with children near a sign in Tel Abyad town, Raqqa governorate, June 16, 2015. REUTERS/RODI SAID Kurdish-led forces advanced on Monday deep into territory in Syria held by Islamic State, showing new momentum […]
Jun 17,2015 – JORDAN TIMES BY MICHAEL JANSEN The battle between Kurdish militiamen and Daesh over the strategic Syrian border town of Tel Abyan has been a crucial test for both sides; Daesh is certain to try to regain control. The town, across from the Turkish city of Akcakale, is […]
ARABNEWS.COM 13th June, 2015 The recently concluded general elections proved to be a major turning point in the Turkish political history. The Justice and Development Party or AK party, which had been ruling the roost for the past 13 years once again emerged victorious with one difference — for […]
In the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar and ISIS stronghold west of Mosul, several hundred Ezidis are being held captive since August last year. After dozens of women, children and in some cases men managed to escape from Tal Afar following an intensification of armed clashes with Peshmerga and HPS forces […]
By Denise Natali APRIL 22, 2015 Kurdish Peshmerga forces celebrate on the eve of Newroz Day, a festival marking their spring and the Persian New Year, in Kirkuk on March 20, 2015. (Ako Rasheed / Reuters) Within Iraq and Syria, the U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State(ISIS) relies heavily on […]
By Denise Natali APRIL 22, 2015 Kurdish Peshmerga forces celebrate on the eve of Newroz Day, a festival marking their spring and the Persian New Year, in Kirkuk on March 20, 2015. (Ako Rasheed / Reuters) Within Iraq and Syria, the U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State(ISIS) relies heavily on […]
by VAGER SAADULLAH When Islamic State swept into Mosul in June 2014, Iraq’s army crumbled and fled. Baghdad’s troops also abandoned surrounding territories, including the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. But before Islamic State could move in, Kurdish Peshmerga forces swiftly secured Kirkuk. The ethnically diverse city is home to Kurds, […]
Foreigners fighting Islamic State in Syria: who and why? Reuters By Benedetta Argentieri DERIK, Syria (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – While illegally crossing the Iraqi-Syrian border, Canadian Peter Douglas was adamant that his incursion was for humanitarian reasons – to help the people of Syria. Douglas is one of a growing […]
NAHYAT AL-AYADHIYA, Iraq: Kurdish forces pressed their biggest offensive against the Islamic State group so far on Friday, buoyed by US reports that IS supremo, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi’s top aide in Iraq has been killed. Kurdish peshmerga forces were securing the surroundings of Mount Sinjar after breaking a months-old siege […]
Summary Iraq’s central government in Baghdad must give up much of its authority to local power centers — and potentially permit the creation of an autonomous Sunni Muslim region — […]
Exclusive: CIA has hugely underestimated the number of jihadis, who now rule an area the size of Britain PATRICK COCKBURN IRBIL Sunday 16 November 2014 The Islamic State (Isis) has recruited an army hundreds of thousands strong, far larger than previous estimates by the CIA, according to a senior Kurdish […]
By Ralf Hoppe, Maximilian Popp, Christoph Reuter and Jonathan Stock SPIEGEL.DE The headquarters of one the world’s mightiest terrorist organization is located in the mountains northeast of Erbil, Iraq. Or […]
BEIRUT: A Kurdish woman fighter is leading the battle against Islamic State militants in the Syrian battleground town of Kobani, a monitoring group and activists said Sunday. “Mayssa Abdo, known […]
By Katrin Elger, Hasnain Kazim, Christoph Reuter and Holger Stark spiegel.de Islim Ali is dragging a torn trash bag behind her, clothes spilling out of the growing holes. Twenty-two years […]
Summary ISIS jihadists were closing in on Syria’s third largest Kurdish town Sunday after their capture of surrounding villages sent tens of thousands of refugees streaming into Turkey, an activist […]
Thousands of Kurds fleeing the “Islamic State” have crossed into Turkey. The militant group has seized Kurdish villages in northern Syria over the past two days. On Friday, Turkey opened […]
Thousands of Kurds fleeing the “Islamic State” have crossed into Turkey. The militant group has seized Kurdish villages in northern Syria over the past two days. On Friday, Turkey opened […]
Interview conducted by Dieter Bednarz SPIEGEL: Mr. Chalabi, how close have fighters from Islamic State come to Baghdad? Chalabi: They are 26 kilometers away. That is menacingly close, but the situation is calm at the moment and Islamic State has not made any more advances on Baghdad. Thank God. SPIEGEL: […]
Interview conducted by Dieter Bednarz SPIEGEL: Mr. Chalabi, how close have fighters from Islamic State come to Baghdad? Chalabi: They are 26 kilometers away. That is menacingly close, but the situation is calm at the moment and Islamic State has not made any more advances on Baghdad. Thank God. SPIEGEL: […]
Islamist Influx: Several Radicalized Ex-German Soldiers in Iraq Germany on Sunday presented the list of weapons it plans to send to the Kurds in northern Iraq. Some of them, though, may end up being used against former German soldiers. SPIEGEL has learned that 20 ex-Bundeswehr troops have joined jihadists in […]