Iraqi Forces on Mosul’s Doorstep

Iraqi forces were on the doorstep of ISIS-held Mosul on Tuesday, encountering snipers, landmines and road-blocking boulders to edge ever closer to the key city. Troops came within hundreds of meters from Mosul on Monday evening and are now the closest they’ve been since launching an operation two weeks ago to wrest the city from […]

Watch: Pulse Nightclub shooting, Omar Mateen’s 911 calls released

Yesterday, the audio of Omar Mateen, the radical Islamic terrorist that killed at least 49 people at the Pulse Nightclub was released to the public. In the audio of the 911 calls, you can hear Mateen pledge his allegiance to the Islamic State. According to Mateen’s own words, the Pulse night club shooting was in […]

Veteran spy gives material to FBI alleging Russia intended to cultivate Donald Trump

Reports have emerged claiming that a veteran spy has handed over information to the FBI alleging a Russian operation to cultivate Donald Trump. There isn’t a lot of authority behind this claim and media development. But is there a direct connection, relationship, between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump? Probably not. Trump’s connection to Putin may […]

How is ISIS selling the battle in Mosul?

So-called Islamic State (IS) has gone on a propaganda offensive as its enemies close in on its Iraqi stronghold of Mosul. The city holds symbolic weight for IS because it was here that the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, made his first – and only – appearance following its declaration of a “caliphate” in the […]

Iraqi in wheelchair makes risky escape from Islamic State

Abbas Ali wept as his wife slowly pushed him in his wheelchair out of their village in northern Iraq, a risky escape along a route where Islamic State snipers three days earlier had shot dead a couple seeking freedom from their rule. Flanked by their four children, they looked behind them to see if any […]

In dawn assault, Iraqi Special Forces near Mosul from east

Iraqi forces reached a position within firing range of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)-held city of Mosul on Monday, a military source told CBS News. Iraqi Special Forces were advancing on Mosul early Monday. Moving in from the east under heavy fire, they were inching closer to the city’s limits. The elite […]

On the front lines: Mosul in sight

Through the haze and smoke, the brown and gray outline of Gogjali is just about visible. It’s an industrial suburb on the eastern outskirts of Mosul, just two kilometers (1.24 miles) from front line positions of the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Force (CTF), and it’s their next target. The Iraqi units send mortar fire into the […]

Defeating ISIS in Mosul may create more challenges

A constellation of warring factions have seemingly set aside deadly disputes to take part in one of Iraq’s toughest challenges yet — clearing ISIS out of its last major stronghold in the country. A successful offensive to recapture Mosul could boost desperately needed national unity, restore the pride of an army that was humiliated when […]

Shia militias aim to take Tal Afar in Mosul Battle

Iraq’s Shia militia groups say they have launched an attack against Islamic State militants west of Mosul, as the offensive to retake the city continues. The Hashid Shaabi groups say their aim is to oust IS from the town of Tal Afar, cutting jihadist supply routes to Mosul from Syria. Tal Afar had sizeable Shia […]

Seeking clues to ISIS strategy in corpses and cellphones left in Kirkuk

Eighty-four bodies of Islamic State fighters were piled high at the Kirkuk hospital morgue, as the pathologists went through the gruesome work of gathering intelligence on the group’s sudden counterattack on the city. One by one, the corpses were removed from black body bags so fingerprints and DNA could be preserved. If no relatives come […]

ISIS ‘Executes’ 232 Near Mosul and Takes ‘Thousands as Human Shields’

ISIS has “executed” 232 people near Mosul and taken tens of thousands of people to use as human shields against advancing Iraqi forces, the UN says. A spokeswoman for the UN’s human rights arm told CNN that the terror group had carried out the mass killings on Wednesday, punishing people who had defied its orders. […]