(Reuters) – While the world has focused on a U.S.-led air assault on Islamic State strongholds in Syria, American officials said they also struck a blow there against a little-known cadre of hardened al Qaeda militants that posed a more immediate threat to the West. The strikes early on Tuesday on what Washington called the Khorasan Group, so shadowy that U.S. officials had barely uttered its name in public, were staged to disrupt a plot against […]
Tag: Islamic State
French jets strike in Iraq, expanding U.S.-led campaign vs Islamic State
(Reuters) – French jets struck a suspected Islamic State target inIraq for the first time on Friday, expanding a U.S.-led military campaign against militants who have seized a third of the country and also control large parts of neighboring Syria. President Francois Hollande said Rafale jets hit “a logistics depot of the terrorists” near the city of Mosul, which has been held by Islamic State for more than three months. It promised more operations in coming days. […]
ISIS releases video showing British journalist
The Islamic State militant group releases a video of a man identified as a British journalist posted on social media sites, promises to convey some facts.
U.S. advisers may take forward positions in Iraq fighting
By Jeff Mason MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE Fla. Wed Sep 17, 2014 6:48pm EDT (Reuters) – Some U.S. military advisers could end up in front-line positions in the fight against Islamic State militants, the White House said on Wednesday, although President Barack Obama vowed that America would not fight another ground war in Iraq. The House of Representatives gave a green light to a key plank of Obama’s strategy against Islamic State, approving authorization for […]
Islamic State video purports to show beheading of UK hostage David Haines
(Reuters) – Islamic State militants fighting in Iraq and Syria released a video on Saturday which purported to show the beheading of British aid worker David Haines. Reuters could not immediately verify the footage. However, the images were consistent with that of the filmed executions of two American journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff, in the past month. Haines, a 44-year-old father of two from Perth in Scotland, was kidnapped last year while working for the French agency ACTED. […]
U.S. sees Middle East help fighting IS, Britain cautious after beheading
(Reuters) – Washington said countries in the Middle East had offered to join air strikes against Islamic State militants and Australia said it would send troops, but Britain held back even after the group beheaded a British hostage and threatened to kill another. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has been touring the Middle East to try to secure backing for U.S. efforts to build a coalition to fight the Islamic State militants who have grabbed territory […]
Philippines supports U.S. strategy against Islamic State, Palace says
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang said it supports the United States’ newly announced strategy to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). During Thursday’s press briefing at the Palace, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr. said the Philippines is behind US President Barack Obama’s plan to fight terror. “In principle lang po,” he told reporters about the nature of the country’s support. “Iyong posisyon kasi ng Pilipinas ay ‘yung paglaban din sa […]
Obama orders U.S. airstrikes in Syria against Islamic State
(Reuters) – President Barack Obama told Americans on Wednesday he had authorized U.S. airstrikes for the first time in Syria and more attacks in Iraq in a broad escalation of a campaign against the Islamic State militant group. Obama’s decision to launch attacks inside Syria, which is embroiled in a three-year civil war, marked a turnabout for the president, who shied away a year ago from airstrikes to punish Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for using […]
US President Obama reveals Anti-ISIS strategy
In a televised speech, United States President Barack Obama revealed his strategy against the rebel Islamic State in Iraq and Syria or ISIS. Obama said in his speech that he will crush ISIS who is threatening Syria, Iraq and the rest of the Middle East. The United States will widen the scope of its airstrike against ISIS, targeting suspected hideouts of the said rebel group. The United States will also lead the formation of coalition […]
Islamic State says executes second Lebanese soldier
(Reuters) – Islamic State militants have beheaded a captive Lebanese soldier, images published on social media showed on Saturday, the second Lebanese soldier to be killed in captivity by the group since it raided a Lebanese border town last month. The men were among a group of 19 soldiers missing since the attack on Arsal by militants including fighters affiliated with Islamic State. The group routinely beheads people it deems its enemies and recently killed […]
Obama vows to ‘degrade and destroy’ Islamic State
(Reuters) – The United States plans to fight Islamic State until it is no longer a force in the Middle East and will seek justice for the killing of American journalist Steven Sotloff, President Barack Obama said on Wednesday. He added that destroying the militant group will take time because of the power vacuum in Syria, the abundance of battle-hardened fighters that grew out of al Qaeda during the Iraq war, and the need to […]
U.S. condemns apparent beheading of 2nd US hostage
(Reuters) — The U.S. State Department on Tuesday (September 2) condemned the apparent beheading of U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff after video purporting to show his murder was released online. “If the video is genuine, we are sickened by this brutal act taking the the life of another innocent American citizen,” said U.S. State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki during a daily press briefing. “Our hearts go out to the Sotloff family and we will provide more information as it becomes […]





