Air strikes and artillery have pounded rebel-held districts of eastern Aleppo for a second day, killing dozens of people, damaging medical facilities and flattening residential buildings. Sources told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that more than 50 people had been killed and dozens wounded in the past 48 hours, as air raids launched by Syrian jets … Read more
US legislators have passed a bill that would sanction the government of Syria and its supporters, including Russia and Iran, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the country. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives on Tuesday, imposing new sanctions on Syria and underscoring US determination to play a strong role … Read more
Turkey’s state-run news agency says an official has died of wounds sustained in an attack on a government building in southeastern Turkey. The Anadolu Agency said Fatih Safiturk, the district governor of the town of Derik, died in a hospital on Friday. Safiturk and two others were wounded on Thursday when assailants attacked his office, … Read more
Six stories you may have missed because of US election Iraqi Kurdish forces seized the town of Bashiqa near Mosul from ISIL, an official said While the US presidential race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton dominated international headlines on Tuesday, Russia announced that it was preparing to renew its air strikes on Syria’s Aleppo … Read more
Since the Iraqi army took control of Kokejli, the town has come under heavy bombardment from ISIS Along the main road connecting Mosul city centre with Erbil, hundreds of families could be seen fleeing Mosul in an attempt to reach Hasan Sham camp in Al Khazir – almost 40km east of Mosul. The younger and … Read more
US election: What does the rest of the world think? As the voting day in the US approaches, the world’s attention is focused on perhaps one of the most polarised elections in US history. Not only will the winner seal the fate of Americans for the next four years, but the result will also have … Read more
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant appears to be using tens of thousands of people as “human shields” in and around Mosul, where Iraqi forces are waging an offensive aimed at retaking the country’s second biggest city. The UN human rights office also said on Friday it received reports of more than 200 people … Read more
Russia’s seat on the UN Human Rights Council is under threat due to its support of the Syrian government’s air campaign in Aleppo. More than 80 human rights and aid organisations, including Human Rights Watch, CARE International and Refugees International, have urged UN member states to drop Russia from the Human Rights Council over its … Read more
An official said the killings were to avenge the death of one of ISIL’s commanders Fighters have killed at least 30 civilians, including children, after abducting them in the remote Afghan province of Ghor, according to an Afghan police official. Suspected ISIL fighters killed dozens of civilians on Tuesday in the Firozkoh district in revenge … Read more
ISIS is allegedly an Al Qaeda-linked Islamic state of Iraq and the Levant, known for its ruthless tactics and suicide bombers and who currently poses a threat throughout the Middle East. It is also known as a militant group “Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham,” (ISIS) or the “Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant” … Read more
At least 12 people were killed and 40 wounded when two bomb blasts went off at a district court in northwestern Pakistan, officials said. A suicide bomber threw a hand grenade at police guards before storming into the compound and blowing himself up in the court in Mardan town in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. “So far we … Read more
Facebook’s decision to implement its “safety check” feature for the attacks in Paris, but not after bomb blasts in Beirut a day earlier, has prompted debate online. Critics of the site accused it of valuing the lives of Western victims more than those in the Middle East and other regions, a charge disputed by others, … Read more