Iraq
US Army Chief Says Ground Troops Will Be Needed Against ISIS
Monthly Archives: September 2014
Iraq
Dempsey: Half of Iraqi army not OK as US partners
OPCW
Exclusive: Syria reveals more chemical weapons facilities to watchdog – sources
United States
Gen. Martin Dempsey, head of the Joint Chiefs, said the US troops in Iraq are working in a “combat advisory role” now but that if circumstances evolved he might recommend that they “provide close combat advising” or accompany particular missions. Lawmakers are considering measures for providing arms and training to Syrian rebels. Senior US officials […]
Islamic State
A ‘fundamental fallacy’ in Obama’s plan to arm Syrian rebels?
European Union
Europe needs to coordinate its anti-jihadist measures
Europe
For James Foley’s Family, US Policy Offered No Hope
India
Pakistani Islamists use floods to turn opinion against India
Iraq
The US has launched five airstrikes in southwestern Baghdad and Irbil against the Islamic State. The Iraqi military claimed it killed 16 Islamic State fighters near Bayji and launched an operation in Jurf al Sakhar. The Islamic State killed four Iraqis in mortar attacks in Dhuluiyah. General Dempsey said US ground troops could engage in […]
Syria
Syria’s UN envoy said the Al Nusrah Front has seized all of the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, and that Al Nusrah militants are using UN vehicles, weapons, uniforms, and fighting positions against civilians as well as Syrian forces; he accused Qatar, Israel, and Jordan of allowing Al Nusrah to use the safe zone […]
Iraq
The Islamic State gearing up for the “War of the Cross”
Hezbollah
Lebanon likely to play defense role in ISIS fight
Lebanon
The Army killed “dozens” of Al Nusrah Front militants who were fleeing clashes with Syrian forces near the border in Qalamoun. Security forces arrested three Syrians accused of membership in an armed terrorist group in Baalbek. Army intelligence recently detained a Saudi commander of a 100-fighter Islamic State group after he arrived in Beirut from […]
Islamic State
Islamic State goes underground in Syrian stronghold
Algeria
Algeria siege inquest: ‘Bloodshed threat’ before attack
Egypt
Six policemen were killed and two more were wounded when their convoy hit a roadside bomb on the way from Rafah to el Arish. A court sentenced 17 Muslim Brotherhood members to prison terms of up to five years for rioting, but acquitted five students, including the nephew of former president Mohamed Morsi.
Iran
Kerry Says US Is Open to Talking to Iran, Even as Ayatollah Is Dismissive
Iran
Kerry in Paris: US now open to talks with Iran on Islamic State
Iraq
ISIS Draws a Steady Stream of Recruits From Turkey
Europe
Kurds in Europe Take up Arms Against IS Group
US air campaign against Islamic State expands to southwestern Baghdad
The airstrike likely took place in northern Babil, the Islamic State’s southern front.
Libya
Shaaban Hadia Al-Zawi a.k.a. Abu Obeida, head of the Islamist militia Libyan Revolutionaries Operation Room, was captured by Warshefana forces near Tripoli during clashes that injured him and killed two of his commanders. Two young relatives of Libya’s ambassador to the UK were kidnapped from their Tripoli home. Operation Dignity threatened to bomb any ship […]
Italy
A source claimed that Father Paolo dall’Oglio, a priest who disappeared in Syria last year, is being held by the Islamic State along with two female Italian aid workers who were kidnapped in Aleppo on Aug. 1. Interior Minister Alfano said last week that 48 Italians are known to be fighting with the Islamic State, […]
Al Qaeda branches urge jihadist unity against US
AQAP and AQIM have issued a joint statement encouraging the jihadists in Syria to unite in the face of the American-led opposition. However, the statement should not be read as an indication that they are breaking ranks from al Qaeda. The two groups also offer their condolences for the Ahrar al Sham leaders who were killed earlier this month.
4 ISAF soldiers killed in suicide, green-on-blue attacks
Three ISAF soldiers were killed in a suicide attack in Kabul, while another soldier was killed after an Afghan soldier opened fire on military trainers at a base in Farah province.
Austria
After rumors on social media led the Interior Ministry to inform the parents of two teenage Austrian girls that they might have been killed in Syria, one of the girls apparently posted a message indicating they are both alive. The two sisters traveled to Syria in April, and are said to have married Chechen fighters. […]
Al Qaeda operations chief, propagandist reported killed in airstrikes
Influential jihadists said that Sufyan al Maghribi, a Moroccan who served as al Qaeda’s military chief in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Umar al Talib, a propagandist who narrated videos for As Sahab, have been killed in airstrikes.
Pakistan
The military claimed it killed 15 Taliban fighters in airstrikes in North Waziristan. A tribal policeman was killed as “armed men” attacked a polio vaccination team in the Pishin district in Balochistan. The military said that the Taliban’s ability to conduct attacks has been degraded.
Al Qaeda official in Syria tweets in solidarity with Islamic State
Abu Sulayman al Muhajir, a member of the Al Nusrah Front’s Sharia Committee, has now joined other al Qaeda members and branches in expressing solidarity with the Islamic State; but such expressions of support are not pledges of loyalty or allegiance.
Iraq
Mideast’s complexities confound US efforts to build coalition against Islamic State