Iraqi forces, backed by American airpower, are set to launch a long-awaited offensive to retake West Mosul. There are reportedly 3,000 ISIS fighters left defending their last major stronghold in Iraq, and an estimated 650,000 civilians are trapped in the western-held area of the city. The U.N. has warned that these civilians are at “extreme…
The US administration has tasked the Department of Defense with preparing, by Feb. 28, a comprehensive plan to defeat the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria. With only eight days left, it’s clear we’re entering the final phase of preparations for retaking Raqqa, the strategic heart of IS in Syria. Turkey has been involved in many conversations with the US this month. Following the Feb….
The U.S. Defense Department is considering proposing that the U.S. send conventional ground combat forces into northern Syria for the first time to hasten the fight against ISIS, according to CNN. “It’s possible that you may see conventional forces hit the ground in Syria for some period of time,” one defense official told CNN. However,…
The Iraqi armed forces will eventually capture west Mosul, which is still held by Isis fighters, but the city itself will be destroyed in the fighting, a senior Iraqi politician told The Independent in an interview. Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurdish leader who until last year was the Iraqi finance minister and prior to that the…
Mosul is the second most populated city in Iraq and mainly inhabited by Sunnis. It fell under ISIS’ full control back in June 2014, largely due to the deep mistrust that the indigenous population had towards the Shia government of Iraq. It is in the Great Mosque of Mosul that ISIS’ leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi…
Moscow will host six-party talks about Afghanistan on 15 February, with Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Iran, India, and naturally Russia expected to be represented. Moreover, ZamirKabulov – thought of as being the leader of the “Islamophile” South Asian faction in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – extended an invitation to the US as well, though stipulating…
