Raqqa - Page 3

Early Tuesday morning, a wave of Turkish airstrikes reportedly struck a headquarters building used by the Kurdish YPG militia in northeastern Syria. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 18 YPG fighters and media officials were killed in the attack.

Early optimism that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the “caliph” of the Islamic State, was pinned down in Mosul and close to capture or death seems to have faded. According to ABC News, U.S. officials now believe Baghdadi slipped out of Mosul, and they are uncertain of his whereabouts.

Contents: Explosion in St. Petersburg subway kills 11, injures dozens; Suspicion falls on blowback from Russia’s military intervention into Syria

Residents of the northern Syrian city of Raqqa live in terror, trapped as a massive human shield in the Islamic State’s de facto capital ahead of the final battle with US-backed opposition forces for the militant group’s last major urban stronghold.

The U.S. and Russia-backed Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) has offered the people of Raqqa the opportunity to join its autonomous federal region in northern Syria once the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) is pushed out of the city.

Contents: Analysts skeptical of ISIS claiming responsibility for London terror attack; US resettlement of refugees from Australia’s detention centers is about to begin

U.S. forces have joined an offensive behind Islamic State lines in Syria, aiming to recapture a strategically vital dam near the ISIS capital of Raqqa.

The United States is boosting support to an operation against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) in Syria, providing airlift and artillery in addition to the train-and-advise mission, a move that will further deepen America’s involvement in the war-devastated country.

The Islamic State (ISIL/ISIS) is expected to adapt to the imminent collapse of its so-called caliphate in Iraq and Syria, in part, by continuing to expand its international criminal enterprise, particularly the drug trade.

WASHINGTON – As many as 1,000 more U.S. forces could deploy to Syria to help local forces retake Raqqa, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria’s de facto capital in Syria, according to a recent report.

The Pentagon cast substantial doubt on a possible role for Turkey in the assault on Raqqa, the Islamic State’s capital in Syria, during a press conference in Iraq on Wednesday.

Contents: Terrorist bombings in Damascus, airstrikes in Idlib, break Syria’s ceasefire; Russian troops join Americans, Kurds, Sunni rebels in Manbij, Syria; Syria’s Bashar al-Assad says that the Americans are invaders.

Contents: Al-Nusra descendant claims credit for massive terror attack in Damascus, Syria; Al-Nusra becomes Levant Liberation Committee (LLC) and gains at expense of ISIS

Contents: ISIS claims responsibility for hospital attack in Kabul, Afghanistan; CENTCOM commander: Afghanistan ‘stalemate’ requires ‘thousands’ more US troops; Report: Trump administration shuts out Russia and Turkey in Syria

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) group, led by the Kurdish YPG but boasting a variety of Arab and Christian militias, is signaling that it can capture the city of Raqqa from the Islamic State with support from the United States and pointedly without help from Turkey.

Contents: Hundreds of American troops deployed to Syria in support of local forces; As more US troops enter Syria, the endgame becomes fuzzier

A detachment of U.S Marines arrived in Syria outside the ISIS de-facto capital of Raqqa, a U.S. defense official confirmed.

Watchdog groups and U.S. government officials say the Islamic State’s leadership in its caliphate “capital,” Raqqa, are relocating to Deir Ezzor as a coalition of Syrian rebels, Kurdish militias, Turkish soldiers, and U.S. troops prepare to battle for the liberation of the southern Syrian city.

BEIRUT — The Islamic State group has imposed an “Afghan-style” dress code on men in its Syrian stronghold Raqqa to help its fighters blend into the civilian population, a monitor and activists said Monday.

Lt. General Stephen Townsend, the top American commander for anti-ISIS operations in Syria and Iraq, said on Wednesday that Russian and Syrian planes bombed villages held by U.S.-backed forces.

The Islamic State organization has pressed on with its propaganda effort while fending off counteroffensives on Mosul and Raqqa, its capitals in Iraq and Syria, respectively.

Senator John McCain (R-AZ), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, made a secret trip to Kurdish territory in Syria last weekend, where he visited American military personnel. He also met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey on his way home.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım told reporters in Munich Sunday that he is optimistic about cooperating with the United States to eradicate the Islamic State from Syria and that Turkey is expecting to work with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) to liberate Raqqa, the Islamic State “capital.” This announcement followed a conversation with Vice President Mike Pence.

The Islamic State’s Zakat charity center in Raqqa, Syria, has handed out more than $500,000 in the last month, the pro-IS Aamaq news agency claimed.

The UK Daily Mail relates a tale of Islamic State depravity from Russian news sources, in which a 10-year-old Iraqi girl living in occupied Mosul was tortured to death in front of her mother for the crime of going outside without an escort.

A U.S.-backed Syrian force launched a new phase of its campaign to retake the eastern part of Raqqa, the Islamic State’s de facto capital in Syria. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have requested more weapons from its allies in the U.S.-led coalition in order to properly execute the mission.

According to The Washington Post, the Trump administration has decided to scrap the Obama White House plan for recapturing the Islamic State capital of Raqqa in Syria.

A Syrian opposition figure who says he controls 3,000 Arab fighters has told Reuters they are training with U.S.-led coalition forces in preparation to help drive Islamic State from its de facto capital in the city of Raqqa.

The Islamic State organization has continued its propaganda effort in a seeming attempt to send a message to it enemies that it is undeterred by the military campaign against it.

On December 29, the Islamic State released another “Cubs of the Caliphate” training video in which child soldiers are shown murdering helpless prisoners.

On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for cooperation between the U.S., Russia, Iran, and Turkey to “establish a stable and terror-free zone” in Syria.

Contents: Syria’s Bashar al-Assad calls Aleppo’s ‘liberation’ a historic event; Syria and Russia suffer a big military setback in Palmyra; Syria’s civil war shows similarities to America’s Vietnam war

A coalition drone strike in Syria killed three Islamic State group leaders involved in plotting foreign attacks, including two men who helped facilitate last year’s attacks in Paris, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

The operation to liberate the Islamic State “capital” of Raqqa, Syria, has continued to advance, with the U.S. Department of Defense announcing a new deployment and coalition forces confirming the destruction of roads out of the city to trap Islamic State terrorists in.

Drawing the US deeper into the Syria conflict, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced Saturday he is sending 200 more troops to accelerate the push on the Islamic State’s self-declared capital of Raqqa.

On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that his country’s armed forces were not just in Syria to battle ISIS and al-Qaeda terrorists (and, uncomfortably for U.S. policymakers, America’s Kurdish allies) but were on a mission to overthrow the Syrian regime.