Raqqa - Page 2

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based activist group, claimed on Tuesday it has “confirmed information” that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed.

Contents: Iraqi forces are just ‘tens of meters’ away from retaking Mosul from ISIS; Recapturing Mosul from ISIS leaves the future of Iraq in question

TEL AVIV — Islamic State members vowed to continue their worldwide crusade to impose a caliphate governed by strict Sharia law despite the terrorist group’s military losses in Mosul and expected defeat in Raqqa.

Contents: Russian-led Syria peace talks collapse in Astana, Kazakhstan; The four de-escalation zones; Is the end of the Syrian war in sight?

The Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG/YPJ) have warned that consistent threats from Turkey, which claims to also be fighting the Islamic State in Syria, “have reached the level of a declaration of war,” threatening to derail the ISIS fight just as the YPG have surrounded its “capital,” Raqqa.

Contents: In dramatic development, US warplanes smash fortified wall in Raqqa, Syria; Turkey fears double-cross from US on arms for Syrian Kurds; Concerns grow about Syrian conflict after defeat of ISIS

U.S. special envoy for the coalition against the Islamic State Brett McGurk arrived in Ankara, Turkey, Friday to discuss the ongoing battle for Raqqa. Turkey, which recently called for McGurk’s firing, has increasingly engaged in attacks against the U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG/YPJ).

Turkey’s defense minister, Fikri Işık, said in an interview Friday that his government is seeking to play a role in retrieving weapons that the United States has provided Syrian Kurdish militias for use in the liberation of Raqqa, the capital of the Islamic State “caliphate.”

Contents: Iran scores strategic victory in Syria with land route from Tehran to Mediterranean; Russia warns US that its jets in eastern Syria will be treated as targets

Russia’s Defense Ministry released satellite photos over the weekend purportedly showing the ruins of the Islamic State command bunker where ISIS “caliph” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed by an airstrike, along with dozens of ISIS leaders.

On Monday morning, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced that planes from the U.S.-led coalition in Syria will be treated as hostile targets west of the Euphrates River. The announcement was made in response to the U.S. downing of a Syrian warplane on Sunday.

Contents: US coalition warplane shoots down Syrian regime warplane targeting SDF; Iran launches missiles at ISIS targets in Deir az-Zour in major escalation

Contents: Three Palestinians shot dead after killing female Israeli officer; Hamas, ISIS argue over who gets credit for killing female Israeli officer

Russia may have executed the ruthless and elusive leader of the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) terrorist group Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria back in May, the Kremlin’s military claimed in a far from definitive statement.

A U.S.-backed Syrian opposition force said Sunday it has captured a northwestern neighborhood of the Islamic State group’s de-facto capital of Raqqa the second district to fall in their hands in days after the group launched a wide offensive to gain control of the extremists’ de facto capital.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a multi-ethnic coalition of militias in the country, have reportedly made gains on either side of the city of Raqqa, slowly surrounding an estimated 4,000 jihadists preparing to fight for their “capital.”

Syrian state media reported over the weekend that the leader of the Islamic State, ‘Caliph’ Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed by an airstrike on the ISIS capital of Raqqa.

Contents: US warplanes strike Iran-backed pro-Syrian forces twice on Thursday; US and Iran headed for military confrontation in Deir az-Zour in eastern Syria

The Syrian Defense Forces (SDF), a coalition of anti-Islamic State militias largely comprised of Kurdish fighters, has confirmed that the battle to liberate Raqqa, the capital of the ISIS “caliphate,” has begun.

United States-backed Syrian Kurdish and Arab forces have launched their offensive to unseat the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria from its “capital” in Raqqa, Syria, the anti-ISIS coalition task force announced Tuesday.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım told reporters on Saturday that the official operation to eradicate the Islamic State from Raqqa, Syria, the capital of the “caliphate,” had begun on Friday, June 3.

TEL AVIV — The Syrian army is accelerating its efforts to regain control over the border area between Syria and Iraq with the help of Iranian forces and elite Hezbollah units, an Arab intelligence source has told Breitbart Jerusalem.

The Russian Navy launched cruise missiles against Islamic State targets near the Syrian city of Palmyra on Tuesday and vowed to use airstrikes against ISIS fighters fleeing the Islamic State capital of Raqqa.

Following Turkish media reports last week, the U.S. military has confirmed that it has begun shipping weapons to the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG/YPJ) to prepare for the battle to liberate Raqqa, Syria from the Islamic State.

Contents: Turkey builds a northern Syria ‘National Army’ from Free Syrian Army militias; US begins arming YPG Kurds in northern Syria on eve of battle of Raqqa

According to opposition groups, the Syrian government conducted airstrikes and dropped its notorious mass-casualty “barrel bombs” on the city of Daraa on Wednesday. Daraa is located in a region classified as a “safe zone” under Russia’s latest peace plan.

Multiple Turkish media outlets are reporting that the United States deployed a new convoy of about 100 trucks to Syrian Kurds fighting the Islamic State in Rojava, or Syrian Kurdistan, this week.

Turkey is doubling down on its animosity toward the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, promising it is ready to conduct military operations against the YPG if provoked and demanding the removal of a U.S. envoy for supporting the Kurds.

The Islamic State is assembling a large number of chemical weapons specialists to create what U.S. intelligence officials are calling a “chemical weapons cell” in the last bit of territory controlled by the terror state.

Contents: Washington shocked as Turkey’s security forces attack peaceful protesters; Turkey’s Erdogan leaves empty-handed from meeting with Trump

Contents: Syria’s Bashar al-Assad accused of burning thousands of political opponents in crematorium; Final push to expel ISIS from Raqqa, Syria, to begin in June

On Thursday’s Breitbart News Daily, former U.N. ambassador John Bolton told SiriusXM host Raheem Kassam that he would “absolutely” have fired FBI Director James Comey if the decision was his to make.

Contents: US will ‘quickly’ arm Kurdish militias in Syria, despite Turkey’s opposition; Turkish officials furious at plans to arm the Kurds

Contents: Kurdish forces in Syria take Tabqa city en route to Raqqa; US military moves to protect Syrian Kurds from Turkey’s military

According to Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News, the United States may “press the Raqqa” button after President Donald Trump’s May 16 meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Islamic State militants carried out a surprise attack on the Syrian village of Rajm Sleibi in the early hours of Tuesday morning, killing at least 22 people.