US Airstrikes Kill 100 Syrian pro-Assad Forces in Syria

US-led coalition troops came under attack by Syrian forces loyal to President Assad which prompted artillery and air strikes in retaliation, killing 100 pro-regime fighters, said a spokesman for the US coalition on Wednesday. The coalition said the strikes had been carried out after forces allied with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “initiated an unprovoked attack” […]

Kurdish fighters kill 2 Turkish soldiers over the weekend

Two more Turkish soldiers were killed over the past weekend during combat operations in Afrin, a Kurdish control city/region in northern Syria. A total of 16 Turkish soldiers have been killed since the start of Operation Olive Branch according to Turkish authorities. The two soldiers recently killed were hit by mortar fire from the Kurdish […]

Trump tells Erdogan to curb Turkey’s Afrin offensive in Syria

U.S. President Donald Trump told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to curtail his country’s military operations in Syria’s Afrin and avoid risk of conflict with American forces, the White House said. In a phone call on Wednesday, “President Trump relayed concerns that escalating violence in Afrin, Syria, risks undercutting our shared goals in Syria,” the […]

The US explains why it created a new Kurdish-dominated force in Syria at the risk of Turkey’s wrath

The US-led coalition has set up a Kurdish-dominated “Border Security Force” in Syria. The move has enraged Russia, Iran, the Syrian regime, and especially Turkey. A US Defense Department spokesperson asserted that “The training is designed to enhance security for displaced persons returning to their devastated communities.” The US-led coalition in Syria acknowledged over the weekend that it’s […]

Erdogan says Turkish operation in Syria’s Afrin to be supported by rebels

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Turkey’s planned military operation against Kurdish militia forces in Syria’s Afrin region will be supported by Syrian rebel fighters. In recent days, Erdogan has repeatedly warned of an imminent incursion in Afrin after the U.S.-led coalition said it was working with the mainly Kurdish YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces […]

US military presence in Syria ‘must end’, says Russia envoy

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy for Syria said on Thursday that there was no reason for US forces to remain in Syria and that Washington’s stated arguments for maintaining a military presence there were groundless. Alexander Lavrentiev was speaking in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, ahead of a new round of Syrian peace talks between […]

Defector says thousands of Islamic State fighters left Raqqa in secret deal

A high-level defector from Kurdish-led forces that captured the Syrian city of Raqqa from Islamic State has recanted his account of the city’s fall, saying thousands of IS fighters – many more than first reported – left under a secret, U.S.-approved deal. Talal Silo, a former commander in the Syrian Democratic Forces, said the SDF […]

US Support Will Continue for Coalition After Raqqa Liberation

Army Major General James Jarrad minced few words as he laced what he termed the “lies and cowardice and the evil of its ideology” of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria he said to Pentagon media on Thursday. Speaking via teleconference to the media from the US headquarters in Baghdad, he said the Syrian […]

ISIS’ loss of its caliphate signals the end of one type of ISIS — and the beginning of a new one

US-backed forces cleared the remaining ISIS fighters from Raqqa But the fight is far from over: ISIS is transforming from a territory-controlling “quasi-state,” to an insurgency Its fighters will still perpetrate suicide bombings, and encourage lone-wolf style attacks in Western countries US-backed forces on Tuesday cleared the remaining Islamic State, or ISIS, forces from Raqqa, Syria, […]

Islamic State Fighters Fleeing Raqqa as the Battle Nears the End

U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), have agreed to a proposal with the Islamic State that allows Syrian jihadists to leave the city of Raqqa in exchange for the release of civilians held captive by the ISIS group. A statement released by SDF stated ISIS fighters are fleeing as the SDF has nearly totally captured Raqqa. […]

U.S. Backed SDF Scours ISIS Base in Raqqa For Intelligence

US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces are moving thru the Islamic State’s former bastion at Raqqa as now 90 percent of the city has been taken. Their fighters on Monday were slowly recovering communication equipment and weapons used by the ISIS forces in their former command centers. After battling thru the western edge of the city, the […]