Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

Even after Trump’s Announced Withdrawal, US & Kurdish Allies Still Assaulting last ISIL Redoubt in Syria

Rouba El Husseini

It is unclear how many people remain inside the ragged camp on the edges of the Euphrates River.

Europe

Europe Rejects Trump’s demand they Take Back Captured ISIL Extremists

AFP

The Kurds have warned the West that they lack the resources to ensure the foreign jihadists in their jails don’t escape

Iraq

Iraq bombs meeting of Daesh leaders in Syria; kills high-value targets

Middle East Monitor

Iraq has launched an air attack on a gathering of Daesh leaders inside neighbouring Syria, killing 45 members of the hardline militant group

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

Church Shooting ‘Nothing To Do With Islam,’ Say Russian Muslim Leaders

contributors

RFE/RL | – – The mainstream Muslim leadership in Russia’s Daghestan region has condemned an attack that killed five people outside a Russian Orthodox church, saying that the suspect had “nothing to do with the true Islam.” In a February 19 statement, the office of the region’s chief mufti also extended condolences to the relatives […]

al Qaeda in the Arabian Penisula

Trump’s Pentagon Admits to ‘Multiple Ground Missions’ in Yemen

Juan Cole

TeleSur | – – The U.S. Defense Department claimed the ISIS presence has doubled in Yemen. For the first time, U.S. Pentagon has admitted to carrying out “multiple ground missions” in Yemen. “U.S. forces have conducted multiple ground operations and more than 120 strikes in 2017,” U.S. Central Command, Centcom, in Tampa, Florida, said in […]

Counter-Terrorism

3 Ways ISIL Terrorism Will Continue even after the end of the “Caliphate”

contributors

By Brian Glyn Williams | (Informed Comment) | – – The Destruction of the Dream of Extremist Warfare, 2014-2017 On Saturday the Iraqi prime minister, Haider al Abadi, announced that the last remnants of Iraq territory had been liberated from ISIL and proclaimed “Dear Iraqis, your land has been completely liberated, and your towns and […]

Counter-Terrorism

With 305 dead in Sinai Terror, Trump babbles Wall & Visas

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – As the death toll in this weekend’s horrific terrorist attack on a Sufi mosque near El Arish in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula rose to at least 305, the patriarch of the Coptic Church, Tawadros II, affirmed the solidarity of Egypt’s some 8 million Christians with the Muslim […]

Counter-Terrorism

Iraq defeated ISIL, but can it defeat Extremism?

contributors

By Mustafa Habib | (Baghdad) | (Niqash.org) | – – The military campaign against the Islamic State is almost over. But now, locals and politicians alike say, the Iraqi government must work to ensure they cannot return to recruit more followers. Even as Iraq’s pro-government forces close in on Rawa, one of the very last […]

Bashar al-Assad

Syrian Army Liberates City of Deir Ezzor from ISIL

contributors

TeleSur | – – This marks a decisive defeat for the terrorist group which has seen its territory shrink at an exponential rate during 2017. The Syrian Army has declared a total military victory over the Islamic State group in Deir Ezzor city, the provincial capital of Deir Ezzor, an oil rich province that was […]