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by Ali Choukeir and Maya Gebeily BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — The Islamic State group’s elusive supremo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his first purported appearance in five years in a propaganda video released Monday, acknowledging IS’s defeat in the Syrian town of Baghouz while threatening “revenge” attacks. The world’s most wanted man was last seen in Mosul in 2014, announcing the birth of IS’s much-feared “caliphate” across swathes of Iraq and Syria, and appears to have […]
DAMASCUS, Syria (AFP) — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Friday called for progress on a stalled buffer zone deal around jihadist-dominated Idlib region ahead of fresh talks aimed at ending his country’s eight-year war. Assad met envoy Alexander Lavrentiev from key ally Russia in Damascus to discuss the negotiations due April 25-26 in Kazakhstan. Iran and Russia are the major supporters of the Syrian regime, and along with rebel backer Turkey have sponsored repeated rounds […]
by Tony Gamal-Gabriel Agence France Presse BAGHOUZ, Syria (AFP) — Suicide bombers, snipers, rockets — Islamic State group fighters did everything they could to defend their last scrap of territory in eastern Syria, but their diminished resources were not enough. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces on Saturday declared victory over the jihadists in the remote village of Baghouz, after reducing their once terrifying proto-state to a ghostly riverside camp. From the top of an […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the Islamic State’s last bastion in Syria will be “gone” by the end of the day. He showed off maps that illustrate the dramatic shrinking of territory held by the jihadist group in the period from his election in 2016 and now. In one map shown by Trump to reporters in Washington and then again at a rally to factory workers in Lima, […]
Finland ranked as the world’s happiest country for the second year running while war-torn South Sudan sank to the least contented in a United Nations report released on Wednesday. The Nordic nation of 5.5 million people, known for their love of forests, lakes and saunas, topped the study which used survey data asking citizens in 156 countries how happy they perceive themselves to be, as well as measures such as life expectancy, income and social […]
Israel’s army said Wednesday it had uncovered a unit recently created by Hezbollah across the ceasefire line in the Syrian Golan Heights and led by a commander previously jailed over an attack on US forces. With President Bashar al-Assad regaining control of southern Syria with the help of Russia and Hezbollah backer Iran, Israel is concerned that a front against it could be established there. Hezbollah, based in neighbouring Lebanon, has also been supporting Assad […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Three thousand Islamic State members have surrendered in the last 24 hours as US-backed forces close in on their last holdout in eastern Syria a spokesman said late Tuesday. “Number of Daesh (IS) members surrendered to us since yesterday (Monday) evening has risen to 3,000,” Syrian Democratic Forces spokesman Mustefa Bali wrote in English on Twitter Three women and four children of the Yazidi minority were also rescued, he added. © […]
by Rouba El Husseini and Emmanuel Duparcq Agence France Presse BAGHOUZ, Syria (AFP) — Kurdish-led forces supported by air strikes from an international coalition evacuated civilians held as “human shields” Monday after smashing their way into the jihadists’ last scrap of territory in eastern Syria. The Syrian Democratic Forces and its allies from the US-led coalition unleashed a deluge of fire on the village of Baghouz at the weekend to break the defences of Islamic […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US military will keep around 200 troops in Syria after President Donald Trump’s pullout from the war-torn country, the White House said Thursday. “A small peace-keeping group of about 200 will remain in Syria for a period of time,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said. The announcement comes amid fierce criticism of Trump’s decision to withdraw America’s 2,000 or so troops from Syria by April 30, with members of […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — More than 2,500 foreign children from 30 countries who have fled the Islamic State group’s last redoubts are living in desperate conditions in camps in northeastern Syria, Save the Children said Thursday. The charity urged their countries of origin to “take action to ensure the safety of their citizens” as US-backed forces battle IS in the final sliver of territory it holds near the Iraqi border. “They need specialised help to […]
by Shaun TANDON / with Gianrigo Marletta in Tampa Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is barring a US-born former Islamic State propagandist from returning home, making the highly unusual case that she is not a US citizen. Trump’s refusal to admit 24-year-old Hoda Muthana comes just as he is pressing Europeans to repatriate their own Islamic State fighters and will likely face legal challenges, with US […]
by Maya Gebeily with Rouba El Husseini at the Omar oil field Agence France Presse BAGHOUZ, Syria (AFP) — Diehard jihadists have blocked roads out of the last scrap of their Islamic State group “caliphate” in Syria, US-backed forces fighting them said Sunday, preventing hundreds of civilians from fleeing. US President Donald Trump called on his European allies to take back alleged jihadists captured in Syria, prompting Belgium to call for a “European solution” to […]
