Iraq will announce imminently a final victory in the nearly nine-month offensive to retake Mosul, a US general said Saturday, as celebrations broke out among police forces in areas they control. The Islamic State group seized Mosul in a lightning offensive on June 10, 2014 before sweeping across much of the country’s Sunni Arab heartland … Read more
Iraqi authorities will imminently announce a final victory in the battle to recapture Mosul from the Islamic State group, a US general said Saturday. “An announcement is imminent,” Brigadier General Robert Sofge told AFP by phone from Baghdad. “I don’t want to speculate if it’s today or tomorrow but I think it’s going to be … Read more
A group of jihadists tried to escape across the Tigris River from west Mosul where they hold a dwindling pocket of territory, but were killed by Iraqi forces, a senior commander said Saturday. In the nearly nine months since Iraq launched the massive operation to retake Mosul, the Islamic State group has gone from holding … Read more
The decaying bodies of foreign jihadists are piling up among the ruins of Mosul where the last few dozen Islamic State group fighters are mounting a desperate last stand. More than three quarters of the remaining jihadists in Mosul are foreigners, according to Iraqi commanders who have reported a spike in suicide attacks as anti-IS … Read more
A review of past air and artillery strikes has found that another 119 civilians were killed by the US-led coalition in Iraq and Syria, pushing the total number of such deaths to 603. In a statement Friday, the coalition said that in May it completed an analysis of 141 reports of civilian deaths dating back … Read more
Two Iraqi journalists working for Hona Salaheddin television in a village south of Mosul were killed by the Islamic State group, the channel said on Friday. IS infiltrated Imam Gharbi earlier in the week, seizing territory in the village, and Iraqi security forces were fighting to oust the jihadists, officers said. “Colleague Harb Hazaa al-Dulaimi, … Read more
Iraqi forces on Thursday battled the last remaining Islamic State group fighters in Mosul’s Old City, where the UN said up to 20,000 civilians are trapped and in “extreme danger”. In neighbouring Syria, US-backed forces are facing fierce resistance from IS as they wage a parallel offensive to recapture the city of Raqa from the … Read more
US-led coalition air strikes have killed at least 224 civilians since the Syrian forces it backs entered Islamic State group bastion Raqa a month ago, a monitor said on Thursday. Arab and Kurdish fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces broke into Raqa on June 6 after a months-long operation to encircle the northern city. “At … Read more
Up to 20,000 civilians are trapped in the last Islamic State group-held areas in Mosul’s Old City, which Iraqi forces are battling to retake, a senior UN official said Thursday. More than eight months since the start of the operation to retake Mosul from the Islamic State group, the jihadists have gone from fully controlling … Read more
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to eat alive the Islamist militants behind the abduction and beheadings of two Vietnamese sailors in a furious reaction to the killings. The remains of the two hostages, who were kidnapped along with four other crew members of a Vietnamese cargo ship in November last year, were recovered off … Read more
The United States is prepared to work with Russia on the establishment of “no-fly zones” in Syria, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday. In a wide-ranging statement issued two days ahead of President Donald Trump’s first face-to-face with Vladimir Putin, Tillerson said Russia had a “special responsibility” to help stabilize the war-ravaged … Read more
Forces loyal to east Libya strongman Khalifa Haftar said Wednesday they have cornered the last jihadists in a neighbourhood of second city Benghazi and vowed that victory is “imminent”. The self-styled Libyan National Army said fighting in Soug al-Hout neighbourhood was over and its soldiers had advanced into the central district of Al-Sabri where they … Read more
Iraqi forces battled the last Islamic State group holdouts in Mosul on Wednesday, a day after the country’s premier feted the “major victory” over the jihadists in the northern city. In neighbouring Syria, US-backed forces gained ground after air strikes by the international anti-IS coalition punched holes in the wall of the Old City in … Read more
Foreign funding for Islamist extremism in Britain mostly originates from Saudi Arabia, a think-tank report said on Wednesday in claims that were branded as “categorically false” by the Saudi embassy. “While entities from across the Gulf and Iran have been guilty of advancing extremism, those in Saudi Arabia are undoubtedly at the top of the … Read more
US-backed fighters inched forwards in Raqa’s Old City against fierce resistance Wednesday, after penetrating the heart of the Islamic State group’s Syrian bastion, a spokesman and a monitor said. The Syrian Democratic Forces — an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters — entered the historical quarter after air strikes by the US-led coalition punched two … Read more
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi congratulated the Iraqi people and security forces on winning a “major victory” over jihadists in Mosul, but fighting in the city continued on Wednesday. More than eight months since the start of the operation to retake Mosul from the Islamic State group, the jihadists have gone from fully controlling the city … Read more
Two Vietnamese men have been beheaded by Philippine Islamist group Abu Sayyaf, the country’s military said. Their bodies were found on Basilan island in the country’s south, a stronghold of the group. The two victims were part of six Vietnamese sailors kidnapped by the militants last year. The southern Philippines have seen a surge in … Read more
US-backed forces have penetrated the heavily fortified heart of jihadist bastion Raqa for the first time, in a key milestone in the war against the Islamic State group in Syria. Air strikes by the US-led coalition battling IS punched two holes in the mediaeval wall surrounding the Old City of Raqa, allowing fighters of the … Read more
US-backed forces in Syria have breached the wall surrounding the Old City of Raqa as they try to retake the city from the Islamic State group, the US Central Command said Monday night. “Coalition forces supported the SDF advance into the most heavily fortified portion of Raqa by opening two small gaps in the Rafiqah … Read more
A top officer aboard the US Navy’s largest warship, which is deployed in the eastern Mediterranean, said Monday his forces were wary of “tensions” and ready to strike allies of Syria’s regime. The USS George H. W. Bush, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, has been a leading part of the US bombing campaign in Iraq … Read more