Islamic State

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is keeping with his vow to diversify his nation’s ties away from the United States and towards China and Russia, welcomed five Russian ships delivering military equipment to the Filipino government. On Friday three Russian anti-submarine ships docked in Manilla ahead of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s visit and two cargo ships […]

French citizens are among the biggest contingent of overseas fighters who have joined IS, with around 1,000 nationals estimated by counter-terror officials to have travelled to Iraq and Syria. France doesn’t want them back. France’s attitude to the killing of its citizens in Syria fighting for the Islamic State group has rarely been as frankly […]

In another turn of events from earlier this week, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly said Thursday he was “stunned and broken-hearted” over the comments that Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) made after President Trump called the widow of a soldier who was killed in Niger two weeks ago. Kelly came to the aid of […]

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, […]

U.S.-backed forces in Syria claimed Tuesday that they had full control of the Islamic State’s onetime capital of Raqqa, heralding an end to the militants’ presence in their most symbolically important stronghold and raising new questions about the United States’ future role in Syria. Mustafa Abdi, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, […]

The UK’s intelligence services are facing an “intense” challenge from terrorism, the head of MI5 has warned. Andrew Parker said there was currently “more terrorist activity coming at us, more quickly” and that it can also be “harder to detect”. The UK has suffered five terror attacks this year, and he said MI5 staff had […]

Kurdish forces, in a stunning series of events, have been forced to abandon lands they had controlled since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, after Iraqi troops and Iranian-backed Shia militias swept into areas that had been hoped to be an independent Kurdistan. These peshmerga units were forced out of the towns of Bashiqa, […]

With the fighting in Marawi is drawing to a close, as Filipino military forces rout the remaining Islamist fighters holding onto the last footholds in the city, the military killed two of the leaders of the terrorists who have held Marawi since May 23. According to sources, army snipers killed both Isnilon Hapilon and Omar […]

US forces killed dozens of Islamic State (IS) group militants in a strike on Monday on two training camps in Yemen, the Pentagon said. The camps in the central al-Bayda province were being used to train new fighters using AK-47s, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, the Pentagon said in a statement. IS has used […]

With the fighting in Marawi is drawing to a close, as Filipino military forces rout the remaining Islamist fighters holding onto the last footholds in the city, the military killed two of the leaders of the terrorists who have held Marawi since May 23. According to sources, army snipers killed both Isnilon Hapilon and Omar […]

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. […]

Iraqi Kurdish officials said on Monday that federal forces and state-backed militias had launched a “major, multi-pronged” attack aimed at retaking the disputed northern city of Kirkuk that is held by the Kurdish peshmerga forces. One local Iraqi Kurdish commander said federal forces had seized an oil and gas company and other industrial sites south […]