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by Laurent BARTHELEMY Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States turned up the heat on the Islamic State group Thursday, sending an additional 400 US troops into Syria to support an offensive to retake Raqa, the jihadists’ de facto capital. The administration also announced a high level meeting on March 22 of the 68 countries in the US-led coalition to discuss plans to accelerate IS’s defeat. The announcements in Washington come […]
by Fulya OZERKAN Agence France Presse ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — The top generals of the Turkish, Russian and US military met Tuesday in a bid to step up coordination in Syria and avoid clashes between rival forces in the fight against Islamic State (IS) group jihadists. The meeting between Turkish Chief of Staff Hulusi Akar, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford and Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov appears to […]
by Maya Gebeily Agence France Presse BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Syrian troops backed by Russian jets completed the recapture of the historic city of Palmyra from the Islamic State group Thursday, the Kremlin and the army said, in another blow to the jihadists. Bolstered by air strikes and ground troops from their ally Moscow, Syrian forces battled through the desert for weeks to reach Palmyra. The oasis city has traded hands several times during Syria’s […]
UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — Russia and China on Tuesday vetoed a United Nations resolution backed by Western powers that would have imposed sanctions on Syria over chemical weapons use. The measure drafted by Britain, France and the United States won nine votes in favor at the Security Council, while three countries opposed it — China, Russia and Bolivia. Kazakhstan, Ethiopia and Egypt abstained. UN resolutions require that there be nine positive votes and […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) – Government air raids on northwest Syria killed at least 11 people overnight, mostly civilians, a monitoring group said Monday, while the military said its forces made advances in Aleppo province. “Government warplanes carried out air strikes after midnight on several areas in the town of Ariha” in Idlib province, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights’ head Rami Abdel Rahman. “The preliminary toll is 11 killed, including at least seven civilians,” […]
by Nazeer al-Khatib with Rana Moussaoui in Beirut Agence France Presse AL BAB, Syria (AFP) — An Islamic State group suicide bomber killed 51 people outside Syria’s Al-Bab on Friday, in a major blow just hours after rebels seized the town from the jihadists. In a statement distributed online, the group said its suicide bomber “drove his car bomb into the middle of a gathering of Turkish soldiers and apostates working in Susian”. At least […]
by Stuart WILLIAMS Agence France Presse ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Three Turkish soldiers were “accidentally” killed and 11 wounded on Thursday when a Russian air strike targeting jihadists in Syria hit a building where the troops were deployed, the Turkish army said. With Moscow and Ankara cooperating ever more closely on Syria, President Vladimir Putin quickly reached out to Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to express condolences and promise better future coordination. The Russian plane […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US military said Wednesday that it had killed eleven Al-Qaeda operatives, including a veteran leader and suicide bombing pioneer, in a bombing raid in Syria. The Pentagon said Abu Hani al-Masri, the Qaeda veteran, was one of those killed in the precision airstrikes near Idlib carried out on February 3-4. Al-Masri was an early official in al-Qaeda, overseeing the group’s training camps in Afghanistan in the 1980s and 1990s […]
by Layal Abou Rahal Agence France Presse BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — The Islamic State group is “completely besieged” in its last major stronghold in Syria’s Aleppo province, a monitor said Monday, as pro-regime forces pressure the jihadists on several fronts. IS fighters were cut off in Al-Bab after forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad’s government severed a road into the northern town, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. “Al-Bab is now completely besieged by […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — As many as 13,000 people were hanged in five years at a notorious Syrian government prison near Damascus, Amnesty International said Tuesday, accusing the regime of a “policy of extermination.” Titled “Human Slaughterhouse: Mass hanging and extermination at Saydnaya prison,” Amnesty’s damning report is based on interviews with 84 witnesses, including guards, detainees, and judges. It found that at least once a week between 2011 and 2015, groups of up to […]
by Delil Souleiman Agence France Presse QAMISHLI, Syria (AFP) — Abdo Shehu sits in an office in Kurdish-majority Qamishli in northeast Syria, surrounded by copies of the first Western novel available in the city in his own language. The novel is “Snow” by French writer Maxence Fermine, the first fruits of a new project to translate international works of literature into a language that was effectively banned in Syria until recently. The 29-year-old is working […]
by Catherine Triomphe Agence France Presse NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — US airports braced for fresh protests Sunday against Donald Trump’s temporary immigration ban, which a federal judge partially blocked by ordering authorities not to deport refugees and other travelers detained at US borders. The ruling coincided with a wave of anger and concern abroad, including among US allies, and rallies at major airports across the United States. “Victory!!!!!!” the American Civil Liberties […]
