Iraq
Damascus-based channels broadcast support for armed attacks in Iraq – Al-Maliki aide
Tag Archives: Syria
Iraq
Iraq’s Maliki blasts foreign support for bombings
Suicide attacks killed more than 120 Iraqis in Baghdad
A series of coordinated suicide and car bomb attacks in Baghdad targeted a court complex, a neighborhood near the Interior Ministry, a mosque, and a market.
Syria
Six people, including an Iranian pilgrim, were killed and several others were wounded in a bombing on a bus near a Shia religious shrine in Damascus. No group has taken credit for the bombing.
Eastern Syria becoming a new al Qaeda haven
Al Qaeda is teaming up with Ba’athist elements, sparking fears that eastern Syrian will “begin to look like northwestern Pakistan.”
Blaming the bogeymen in Baghdad
Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki. Joel Wing critiques the Iraqi government’s response to the recent catastrophic attacks: In August, Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki tried to defer blame and distract public opinion from a domestic security failure by turning it into an international event. This time, the Iraqi government’s response was better at first. That […]
Suicide bombers target Iraqi ministries, kill 132
A pair of suicide bombers detonated simultaneously outside of Iraqi government buildings in the heart of Baghdad, killing more than 130 Iraqis in one of the worst attacks in the capital in years.
Mahdi Army members assassinated in Syria?
Muqtada al Sadr, the leader of the Mahdi Army. An interesting report from Omar at Iraqi The Model: Unknown gunmen assassinated 30 Mahdi Army commanders in the Syrian capital Damascus. The killings, made in the past few weeks, were all made “quietly, inside the victims apartments”, said an unnamed source in the Sadr movement. The […]
Iraq
Turkey to host Iraq-Syria talks in Istanbul
Commando raid in Somalia is latest in covert operations across the globe
US special operations forces have conducted four other such strikes in Pakistan, Syria, and Madagascar since 2006.
Syria
Schulte: Syria may have more nuke sites
Iraq-Syria row intensifies
The Iraq-Syria row over Syria’s sponsorship of insurgent groups and al Qaeda operating in Iraq has gotten interesting over the past few days. Omar over at Iraq The Model has been closely following the story and has some interesting updates. First, a small group of Iraqis held a protest in Hillah and cleverly used Syrian […]
Iraq
Iraq sends police to Syrian border
Iraq turns up heat on Syria
Iraq is continuing its war of words with Syria over the latter’s sheltering of al Qaeda and Ba’athist terror groups. From Reuters: “Why must they insist on sheltering the armed organizations and those wanted by Iraqi courts and Interpol on Syrian lands?” Maliki was quoted by his office as saying. … “The crisis with Syria […]
Syria
President Bashar al Assad denied Iraqi claims that Syria is aiding al Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgent groups and said such statements are “immoral.” Both countries withdrew their ambassadors. Turkey is attempting to mediate the dispute between Syria and Iraq.
Iraq attacks and the Syrian connection
As Iraq takes greater responsibility for its security, the government has begun to lash out at Syria for serving as a sanctuary and training ground for al Qaeda in Iraq and other Sunni and Ba’athist insurgent groups. Today the Iraqi government aired the confession of Mohammed Hassan al Shemari, a Saudi al Qaeda member who […]
Syria
A Saudi leader of al Qaeda in Iraq named Mohammed Hassan al Shemari said Syrian intelligence trained fighters to conduct attacks. “They taught us lessons in Islamic law and trained us to fight,” Shemari said. “The camp was well known to Syrian intelligence.” A Syrian intelligence agent called Abu al Qaqaa commanded a camp.
Iraq
Iraq and Syria recall ambassadors
Syria
Syria said it is willing to send a team of investigators to look into claims that last week’s truck bombs in Baghdad originated from Ba’athists inside the country. If the Iraqi government does not allow the team in country, Syria “will consider anything the Iraqi media presents as fabricated evidence made for domestic consumptions, or […]
Al Qaeda takes credit for last week’s Baghdad bombings
The terror group said the goal of the attacks was to destroy the Iraqi people’s faith in the government.
Senior al Qaeda leader leaves Pakistan, directs Iraq operations from Syria
Longtime jihadi religious and military leader Sheikh Issa al Masri left North Waziristan in Pakistan to aid in the revival of al Qaeda in Iraq’s network inside Syria.
Iraq
Iraq neighbors undermining border fight: minister
Syria
Muqtada al Sadr is visiting Syria and meeting with President Bashar al Asad. “Al Sadr’s visit to Syria is within the framework of strengthening relations with the Iraqi resistance groups since the Trend is one of its important parties,” an aide to Sadr said.
Iraq
Al-Sadr’s visit to Damascus aims to strengthen ties with Iraqi resistance – Al-Sadr Aide
United States
Syria mends US, Arab ties as ally Iran in turmoil
Syria
US to appoint new ambassador to Syria: official
Iran
IAEA: New uranium traces found in Syria
US, Iraqi forces target Syrian-based network
The raid targeted the foreign fighter facilitation network run by Abu Khalaf, who was designated as a global terrorist just days ago. Three of Khalaf’s aides were captured.
Senior al Qaeda leader in Syria sanctioned by US Treasury
Abu Khalaf funnels suicide bombers into Iraq and the Levant while operating from Syria and Iraq.
Syria
Al Qaeda has “reactivated” the ratlines from Syria that funnel suicide bombers and other foreign fighters into Iraq. The network was severely damaged after the US conducted a cross-border raid into Syria that killed Abu Ghadiya, the chief facilitator, and much of his staff in October 2008.