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by Delil Souleiman Agence France-Presse RAQA, Syria (AFP) – Khalil al-Hussein fled the Islamic State group’s Syrian stronghold Raqa 18 months ago, but now he is back and fighting to help oust the jihadists from his hometown. The 25-year-old is one of several members of a Kurdish-Arab alliance fighting IS who are originally from the northern city. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces began an operation to capture Raqa last year, and finally entered the city […]
RAQQA, Syria (Reuters) – Syrian Democratic Forces are pressing their offensive against Islamic State (IS) in Raqqa, advancing further towards the city centre. One fighter said they were advancing quickly against IS, noting that mines left by IS militants were slowing down their progress towards the city centre. Video footage obtained by Reuters showed a number of fighters gathering, testing drones and preparing military equipment. The Syrian Democratic Forces, made up predominantly of Kurdish fighters, […]
by Agnès PEDRERO Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Devastating conflicts, violence and persecution in Syria, South Sudan and elsewhere left a record 65.6 million people uprooted from their homes by the end of 2016, the UN said Monday. That number marks a jump of just 300,000 from the end of 2015, but is more than six million higher than at the end of 2014, according to a report published by the UN refugee […]
by Sara Hussein with Maria Antonova in Moscow Agence France Presse BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Russia on Monday warned it would track US-led coalition aircraft in Syria as potential “targets” and halted a military hotline with Washington after US forces downed a Syrian jet. The United States moved quickly to contain an escalation, with a top general saying it would work to relaunch the “deconfliction” hotline established in 2015. The downing of the jet and […]
by Sara Hussein Agence France-Presse BEIRUT, Lebanon – 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 stronghold last year. But new waves of displacement are expected as the […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (Reuters) — Intensified coalition air strikes supporting an assault by U.S.-backed forces on Islamic State’s stronghold of Raqqa in Syria are causing a “staggering loss of civilian life”, United Nations war crimes investigators said on Wednesday (June 14). The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a group of Kurdish and Arab militias supported by a U.S.-led coalition, began to attack Raqqa a week ago to take it from the jihadists. The SDF, supported by heavy […]
SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC (Reuters) – The Syrian government forces on Monday vowed to continue their offensive in the eastern province of Deir ez-Zor after advancing to the Syrian-Iraqi border in the eastern Syrian desert. After reaching the Syrian-Iraqi border region east of the Syrian city of Homs, the government forces’ next plan was to capture the Al-Tanf border crossing, one of the three official border crossings between Syria and Iraq, from the hands of United […]
by Rana Moussaoui with Ayhem Al-Mohammad in Hasakeh Agence France Presse BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — The battle by United States-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 al-Assad’s government and its […]
by Franck Iovene / with Angus MacKinnon in Rome Agence France-Presse FAGNANO, Italy – Youssef Zaghba, one of three authors of Saturday’s deadly attack in London, was intercepted last year en route to Syria and flagged to Britain as a possible jihadist, Italian authorities said Tuesday. Zaghba, a 22-year-old with dual Moroccan-Italian nationality, was briefly detained after being stopped at the airport in Bologna, central Italy in March 2016. Italian prosecutors were unable to bring […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Fourteen civilians were killed late Monday when Islamic State group jihadists shelled a government-controlled neighborhood of Syria’s eastern Deir Ezzor city, a monitor said. Three children were among the dead in the regime-held Al-Joura district, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. “The shelling hit just before families were gathering to break the Ramadan fast,” said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. Besieged by IS since early 2015, the regime-controlled third […]
by Hervé Asquin / Clare Byrne Agence France Presse VERSAILLES, France (AFP) — France’s President Emmanuel Macron and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin sought to improve their countries’ strained ties Monday during talks at Versailles palace the French leader described as “extremely frank.” Their first meeting since Macron took office provided another test of the Frenchman’s diplomatic skills after his memorable vice-grip handshake last week with United States President Donald Trump. This time, the handshake […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — United States-led coalition air strikes on Thursday killed at least 35 civilians in an eastern Syrian town held by the Islamic State group, a monitor said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes hit a series of residential buildings in Mayadeen, a town in Syria’s oil-rich eastern province of Deir Ezzor. “Among the dead are at least 26 relatives of IS fighters, many of them women and children, including […]
