Russian military transport plane crashes in Syria, 32 reported dead

Reports out of Moscow confirm a Russian military transport aircraft crashed in Syria on Tuesday. All 26 passengers and six crew members are confirmed dead. Everyone on board was Russian military personnel. The Antonov An-26 dual prop transport and cargo aircraft reportedly crashed as it was approaching a runway at Russia’s Khmeimim airbase in the […]

Car bomb in Kurdistan severely injures 2 Peshmerga

A bomb exploded in Erbil, Kurdistan yesterday around 4:00 pm local time in what appears to be a targeted attack. The bomb was placed under the chassis of a car belonging to two Peshmerga from PDKI (Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan) and was detonated remotely. The Peshmerga injured were a father and son and remain […]

Satellite Images Show Iran Building Military Base in Syria

The Iranian army is constructing another base in Syria. Recently released satellite images show the base, being constructed by Quds forces, part of the Revolutionary Guards from Iran. The base is located at Jabal Ash Sharqi outside of Damascus. Two large hangars are visible which the Israelis claim are being used to store missiles that […]

US Must Counter Russia, China in Middle East After Defeat of ISIS

With the defeat of Islamic State, both Russia and China are attempting to grow their influence across the Middle East, adding to the growing concerns for the United States, the commanding general of Central Command said on Tuesday. Gen. Joseph Votel, head of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), described an array of steps those “great power” […]

US Disputes Russian Numbers of ISIS Fighters in Afghanistan

The United States military in Afghanistan has disputed Moscow’s claim the number of Islamic State militants in the country runs into the thousands, and urged Russia and Iran to support the Kabul government, not the Taliban, to help defeat IS in the country. Commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan General John Nicholson made the remark […]

Iraq is ranked among the world’s most corrupt countries

Transparency International is a Berlin based organization that has bestowed upon Iraq a corruption ranking of 169th out of 180 different countries. The report was filed yesterday and it comes as no surprise given Iraq’s propensity for extortion on any given level of authority or government. Turkey was ranked 81, Iran was 130, and Syria […]

Iranian anti-hijab movement continues to grow

Though the movement began before 2018, #WhiteWednesdays has gained steam and more international attention since the Iranian protests that ended in early January. Women have been removing their hijab in protest of the strict dress code, enforced by law since 1979. The first image/video to really go viral was of Vida Movahed, taken on December 27, […]

Hasdt al-Shaabi combats remnants of ISIS

On Sunday Hasdt al-Shaabi forces began anti-terror operations in southwest Kirkuk, where they engaged a substantial force of Islamic State fighters. In the course of the battle, 27 Hasdt al-Shaabi were killed or captured in the province of Hawija over the span of several days. The operation was in an effort to combat known ISIS […]

Israel Hits Several Hamas Targets After Bombing Wounds 4 Soldiers

The Israeli military hit multiple Hamas targets located in the Gaza Strip in the second decisive action on Sunday after an earlier counterattack on Saturday. The Israelis were hitting Hamas in response to a bomb detonation that wounded 4 IDF soldiers and rockets, fired from Gaza which landed in Israeli territory. The Israeli Army in […]

Iraq sends delegation to inspect potential border crossing with Iran

Iraqi Kurdistan has an unofficial border crossing with Iran in the far Southeast recesses of of it’s territory that is set to be inspected by a ministry delegation. It is in doing this that the governing body for  the Halabja province hopes that the crossing will eventually become recognized as a official border point of […]

Iraq demands Kirkuk government be divided ethnically

In a brash demand from the Iraqi government, they have ordered the political parties and governing officials in Kirkuk to restructure all government posts based on ethnicity in one month’s time. The division of personnel would be a three-part split (32%) of Arabs, Turkmens and Kurds, with the remaining 4% left to Christian minorities. The […]