Sourced : Reuters By Ellen Francis, Laila Bassam With a sudden lunge through jihadist lines, the Syrian army and its allies on Monday came to within 3 km of relieving the Euphrates city of Deir al-Zor, where Islamic State has besieged 93,000 civilians and an army garrison for years. The advance on the eastern city… Continue reading SYRIAN ARMY AND ALLIES THRUST EAST TO BREAK SIEGE IN DEIR AL ZOR CITY
Tag: Islamic State
JIHADIS AT SEA
Sourced : Commentary Magazine By Michael Rubin On July 16, 2015, a fishing boat off al-Arish on Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula radioed a distress call. The nearest ship, an Egyptian navy frigate responded. As it approached, terrorists launched antiship missiles crippling the Egyptian vessel. The Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) claimed responsibility for the ambush. The… Continue reading JIHADIS AT SEA
JAMES MATTIS PLEDGES ERDOGAN US SUPPORT AGAINST PKK
Sourced : Al Monitor By Amberin Zaman US Secretary of Defense James Mattis pledged support to Turkey in its ongoing fight against rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) during talks with the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish and US officials said today. The daylong visit was intended to help smooth fraught relations between… Continue reading JAMES MATTIS PLEDGES ERDOGAN US SUPPORT AGAINST PKK
BALKAN JIHADIS RETURN DISILLUSIONED WITH ISIS “CALIPHATE”
Sourced : Balkan Insight By Jovo Martinovic Hilmi, an ethnic Bosniak, travelled to Syria hoping that life in Islamic State’s‘caliphate would be an ideal religious environment – but he managed to escape 16 months later, disillusioned with what he had found there. “There was nothing there, no electricity, no books, no internet, nothing,” Hilmi told… Continue reading BALKAN JIHADIS RETURN DISILLUSIONED WITH ISIS “CALIPHATE”
SEIZING OF PHILIPPINES CITY BY ISLAMIST MILITANTS A WAKE-UP CALL FOR SOUTHEAST ASIA
Sourced : Reuters By Tom Allard At the beginning of the battle that has raged for the past 12 days in Marawi City at the southern end of the Philippines, dozens of Islamist militants stormed its prison, overwhelming the guards. “They said ‘surrender the Christians’,” said Faridah P. Ali, an assistant director of the regional… Continue reading SEIZING OF PHILIPPINES CITY BY ISLAMIST MILITANTS A WAKE-UP CALL FOR SOUTHEAST ASIA
MOSUL FIGHT DOWN TO THREE NEIGHBORHOODS
Sourced : Voice of America The fight for Iraq’s second-largest city is in its final push, with Islamic State down to fewer than 1,000 fighters in three neighborhoods of west Mosul, U.S. military officials said Friday. Speaking with VOA via Skype from Baghdad, Brigadier General Rick Uribe, the deputy commanding general for U.S.-led coalition forces… Continue reading MOSUL FIGHT DOWN TO THREE NEIGHBORHOODS
THE LIMITS TO ANKARA’S RELIANCE ON MOSCOW
Sourced : Al Monitor By Semih Idiz Turkey’s deepening crisis with Europe has re-energized its desire to expand ties with Russia. Ankara clearly wants to show that it has powerful friends that can reduce its dependence on the United States and Europe. This also works to Moscow’s advantage, given its problems with the West and… Continue reading THE LIMITS TO ANKARA’S RELIANCE ON MOSCOW
ISIS LEADER AL-BAGHDADI ABANDONS MOSUL
Sourced : Intelnews.org By Ian Allen | The leader of the Islamic State has abandoned the city of Mosul and is hiding in the desert zone of western Iraq, according to intelligence sources. Meanwhile Mosul, once the most populous city under the Islamic State’s control, is now reportedly being defended by a diminishing cadre of… Continue reading ISIS LEADER AL-BAGHDADI ABANDONS MOSUL
ARE CONDITIONS RIPENING FOR IRAQI KURDISH STATE ?
Sourced : Council on Foreign Relations Author: Steven A. Cook, Eni Enrico Mattei The failure of Iraq, breakdown of Syria, and changes in Turkey have created opportunities for Kurds in all three countries. They are not quite the regional kingmakers that some Kurds have boasted they might become, but Kurdish political and military power is… Continue reading ARE CONDITIONS RIPENING FOR IRAQI KURDISH STATE ?
HOW ISLAMIC STATE IS PUTTING THE BALKANS ON EDGE
Sourced The National Interest By : Tej Parikh In Europe’s fragile southeast, Islamism threatens to galvanize national rivalries and unravel two decades of cold peace. For the largely secular, moderate and west-leaning Balkan states, where religious kinship transcends borders, violent extremism is fueling fear, ethnic tribalism and seditious security agendas. And as Islamic State group… Continue reading HOW ISLAMIC STATE IS PUTTING THE BALKANS ON EDGE