Syria

As Syria’s rebels have been contained in much of the rest of the country, northwestern Idlib province has emerged as the heart of Syria’s armed rebellion against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. But Idlib can also be a tense, scary place, according to Syrian rebels, Idlibi activists, Western officials and others interviewed by The Daily Beast in Turkey. They described […]

Russian warplanes bombed U.S. backed Syrian rebels near the Jordanian border, Pentagon officials say, causing the U.S. to divert armed aircraft to the scene of the strike. The strikes, which the U.S. says killed some New Syrian Army troops, occurred about six miles from the Jordanian border, according to a U.S. defense official. The U.S. […]

Unfortunately, despite all our progress against [Daesh] on the battlefield and in the financial realm, our efforts have not reduced the group’s terrorism capability and global reach. The resources needed for terrorism are very modest, and the group would have to suffer even heavier losses of territory, manpower, and money for its terrorist capacity to decline significantly.

Dozens of U.S. officials have called on the Obama administration to order “targeted military strikes” against the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, with the aim of pressuring Damascus to accept a binding cease-fire and engage in peace talks. The Wall Street Journal reported that 51 State Department officials advising Syria policy signed the so-called […]

“The Apache strike destroyed a Daesh vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) near Qayyarah, Iraq,” he added. Qayyarah is south of Mosul, the Daesh’s main stronghold in Iraq.

I see big changes coming in the next few years, and I want to be the first to say it: These mercenary groups will be the future of the PMC industry.

In addition to being a humanitarian nightmare, the on-going Syrian conflict has wreaked havoc on the country’s economy. And the damage to both human capital and infrastructure could keep economic growth muted going forward — even if the conflict ends within a few years. Operating under the assumption that the conflict will continue on for […]

U.S.-backed opposition forces in Syria’s largest city are facing a ferocious Russian-led assault, raising fears that the rebels could be eliminated in a matter of weeks. So how are the Pentagon and the intelligence community responding? By catfighting among themselves. Two Department of Defense officials told The Daily Beast that they are not eager to […]

It is surely a sign of the bizarre circumstance in which we find ourselves today that “What exactly is Ahrar al-Sham?” has become a question of international political importance. As the United States, Russia, and other members of the International Syrian Support Group make a new push to resolve Syria’s civil war, the debate over which armed […]

Daesh used more than 30 car bombs in its Ramadi offensive. Many of these involved armored U.S. HMMWVs and some of the bombs were large enough to level an entire city block.

The Jaysh al Fateh (“Army of Conquest”) coalition, which was cofounded by Al Nusrah Front and its closest allies, has launched a new offensive in the southern part of Syria’s Aleppo province. The assault began sometime during the past two days when two suicide bombers detonated a large amount of explosives on positions controlled by Bashar […]

Syrian troops reached the edge of the northern province of Raqqa on Saturday, home to the de facto capital of the Islamic State group’s self-styled caliphate, in a push that leaves the extremists fighting fierce battles on four fronts in Syria and neighboring Iraq. IS, which controls large swaths of territory in both countries, is […]