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
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
Equipped with an inexpensive camera and a big red balloon, Firas Ismail — a 20-year-old Palestinian refugee in southern Lebanon — is not your typical urban planner. But the aerial shots he helped capture of the Burj al-Shamali refugee camp, near the Mediterranean coastal city of Tyre, will help residents plan out everything from future … Read more