A US warplane shot down an Iranian-made drone operated by pro-regime forces in southern Syria early Tuesday, officials said, in the latest incident in rising tensions between the two sides. It comes days after a US warplane shot down a Syrian government fighter jet in the north of the country, prompting a furious reaction from … Read more
A Muslim border security officer in Singapore has been arrested for planning to fight in Syria, officials said Tuesday. Muhammad Khairul bin Mohamed, 24, an unarmed traffic officer working at the crossing with Malaysia, was arrested under the Internal Security Act, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement. The act allows for detention … Read more
The White House hit back at Russia on Monday after the Kremlin warned it would track US-led coalition aircraft in Syria as potential ‘targets’ and halted an incident-prevention hotline with Washington after US forces downed a Syrian jet. ‘I think that the escalation of hostilities among the many factions that are operating in this region … Read more
The U. S.-led coalition shot down a Syrian warplane over Syria’s northern city of Raqqa on Sunday, the Syrian army said in a statement. The U. S.-led coalition shot down the Syrian warplane over the city of Rasafeh in the southern countryside of Raqqa, while the warplane was carrying out a combat mission against the … Read more
The U. S. continues to expand military presence in Syria. Nowadays, Washington is setting up a second base at Syria’s Al-Zakf to the northeast, Reuters reported. Abu al-Atheer, military spokesman for the U. S.-backed Maghawir al-Thawra opposition group, told Reuters U.S. forces had spread from their initial location in Al-Tanf to set up a second … Read more
The battle to oust the Islamic State group from its stronghold of Raqa is creating daunting challenges for aid groups responding to the latest humanitarian crisis in the Syrian conflict. Tens of thousands of civilians have fled Raqa and its surroundings since the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began its operation to capture the jihadist … Read more
Islamic State group jihadists waged fierce battles Tuesday in their Syrian stronghold Raqa in a bid to repel US-backed fighters advancing towards the walls of the Old City. The Kurdish and Arab fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) entered Raqa a week ago, after months of fighting to encircle the northern city that has … Read more
US-backed Syrian fighters battling the Islamic State group pushed closer to the Old City in the jihadist stronghold of Raqa on Monday, a monitor said. The Kurdish and Arab fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces entered Raqa for the first time almost a week ago, after months of battle to encircle the northern city. In … Read more
Jordanian border guards have killed five people as they approached the country’s border from war-torn Syria, the army said on Sunday. An army statement said that in an incident in the previous 72 hours, nine cars had first approached the border from At-Tanaf, a Syrian town where US special forces are training Syrian rebels to … Read more
US-backed Syrian fighters said they had seized a second district of Raqa on Sunday and launched a renewed assault on a base north of the city, as they pursued an offensive against the Islamic State group. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who broke into Raqa after announcing the start of a final assault on the … Read more
US-backed Syrian fighters captured their first western district of the Islamic State group’s bastion Raqa on Sunday, days after seizing an eastern neighbourhood from the jihadists. A statement by the Syrian Democratic Forces said their fighters “liberated the neighbourhood of Al-Romaniya on the western front of Raqa, after two days of continued clashes.” It said … Read more
US-backed fighters battled on Sunday to dislodge jihadists from a key military base north of Raqa city, the heart of the Islamic State group’s Syrian territory, a monitor said. The Syrian Democratic Forces have entered IS’s bastion Raqa from the east and west, but have struggled to capture the Division 17 military base on the … Read more
A US-backed alliance broke into the western part of the Islamic State group’s stronghold Raqa on Saturday, the force and a monitor said, opening up a second front inside the Syrian city. Backed by US-led coalition air strikes, the Syrian Democratic Forces have spent months tightening the noose on IS-held Raqa and entered the city … Read more
Syrian government troops and allied forces reached the Iraqi border for the first time since 2015 on Friday, a monitor said, risking fresh tensions with US-led forces nearby. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said dozens of pro-regime forces had arrived at the point on the Syria-Iraq border around 70 kilometres north … Read more
US-backed Syrian fighters Friday seized part of a district on the western edge of the Islamic State group’s Raqa bastion and battled to advance inside the city’s east, a monitor said. The Kurdish-Arab alliance known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) broke into Raqa city for the first time earlier this week, months after they … Read more
US-led coalition forces launched heavy raids into Friday morning in support of Syrian fighters battling to oust the Islamic State group from its bastion of Raqa, a monitor said. The Kurdish-Arab alliance known as the Syrian Democratic Forces broke into Raqa city’s east earlier this week, months after they launched an operation to capture the … Read more
Smoke rises from buildings in the al-Meshleb neighbourhood of Raqa as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), made up of an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, try to advance further into the Islamic State (IS) group’s Syrian bastion, on June 7, 2017 At least 17 civilians were killed Thursday night in US-led coalition strikes on … Read more
Chorche was like a kid in a candy store in front of crates packed with US weapons to help an Arab-Kurdish alliance take the Islamic State group’s Syria bastion Raqa. “We’re going to rain these sophisticated weapons down on Daesh (IS),” said the member of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance of Kurdish and … Read more
The battle by US-backed forces to oust the Islamic State group from its Syrian bastion of Raqa will solve one problem but create another: who will then govern the city? The Syrian Democratic Forces Kurdish-Arab alliance backed by Washington is leading the fight for majority-Arab Raqa. But the strategic city is also coveted by Bashar … Read more
US-backed fighters fought fierce battles Thursday as they tried to push further into the Islamic State group’s Syrian bastion Raqa, two days after finally entering the northern city. The Syrian Democratic Forces alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters began the battle for the city earlier this week after seven months of fighting to surround the … Read more