The United States is currently unsure if Kurdish People’s Protection Unit (YPG) fighters, who have reportedly received nearly 50 tons of ammunition funded by American taxpayers, will participate in the U.S. operation to retake Raqqa, the de facto Syrian capital of the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), according to the Pentagon.
Addressing intelligence officials on Friday, FBI Director James Comey delivered a stunning estimate of 900 investigations currently in progress against suspected ISIS operatives, recruits, and individuals “inspired” by the Islamic State, and the number of investigations is slowly growing.
A dispute has arisen in Syria over the disposition of a fifty-ton ammunition shipment from the United States, supposedly intended for Syrian Arab rebel groups. The munitions were instead taken by the Kurdish YPG militia, according to both Arab and Kurdish commanders, although the Pentagon officially insists the shipment reached its intended recipients.
Democratic presidential candidate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that while she supports a no-fly zone in Syria, “that doesn’t mean you shoot at every aircraft that might violate it the first or second time” in an interview broadcast
A Hezbollah-aligned Lebanese parliamentarian has responded to the possibility of Qatar entering the Syrian Civil War, tweeting that “Doha will be shelled” if Qatar enters the conflict.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, reacted “positively” to the idea of working with some rebel groups in the region against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), particularly the Kurds.
The latest CNN/ORC International poll on the war against ISIS paints a glum portrait of a disillusioned public with no confidence in President Obama’s leadership and no sense that any progress is being made against the terror state.
Syrian rebels supporter Qatar said it is considering a direct military intervention in Syria following Russia’s airstrikes in support of dictator Bashar al-Assad but added that it still prefers a political solution to the civil war.
The Turkish government made it known on Wednesday they could accept a transition period for Syria where President Bashar al-Assad stays in power for six months before another person takes over.
Almost four out of every five declared targets of Russian airstrikes in Syria are located in areas not held by the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), according to an analysis of Russian Defense Ministry data by Reuters.
The White House has condemned Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s surprise visit to Moscow, chiding Vladimir Putin for rolling out a “red carpet welcome” for a leader “who has used chemical weapons against his own people.”
Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet in Vienna Friday to discuss Syria before they both meet with Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
U.S. Marine General Joseph Dunford, the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, traveled to Erbil and met with Masoud Barzani, president of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, on Tuesday, to discuss the war against ISIS.
From an elevated observation point only a few hundred yards from Israel’s border with Syria, observers can hear and witness the civil war underway there, and with a single sweep of the eyes can take in a village controlled by al Qaeda, next to a second controlled by Hezbollah, and occasionally see plumes of smoke or hear the sounds of bombs exploding in the distance.
While the government of Iran is officially denying it has deployed ground troops in Syria, Iranian media is reporting that more than one dozen Islamic Revolution Guard Corps officers have died there in the past three years.
Turkey has arrested upwards of 1,000 more suspects linked to the Kurdish PKK than to the Islamic State (ISIS) or Al Qaeda since the July bombing of a meeting of Kurdish socialist youth in Suruç, despite declaring war on ISIS following that incident.
The United States and Russia have agreed on new rules to avoid any confusion or conflict in Syria as both countries lead different coalitions. The Iraqi government also agreed not to ask Russia for help in its airspace.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with Russian head of state Vladimir Putin on Tuesday in a surprise visit to Moscow to personally thank Putin for airstrikes that have significantly weakened the Syrian opposition.
Ottawa (AFP) – Canada’s prime minister-elect Justin Trudeau said Tuesday he told US President Barack Obama that Canadian fighter jets would withdraw from fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
Republican presidential candidate Florida Senator Marco Rubio accused fellow candidate Kentucky Senator Rand Paul of “misreading” history with regards to Syria and stated that fellow candidate Donald Trump should be allowed to host “Saturday Night Live” and those who oppose
A round of Russian air strikes on the ISIS-free province of Latakia reportedly killed Basil Zimmo, a brigade commander in the U.S.-aligned “moderate” Free Syrian Army, along with a number of civilians.
The latest offensive on Aleppo, Syria, could trigger another refugee wave into Europe. The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that thousands already fled the city.
Uruguayan nationals in areas that have taken in Syrian refugees are “outraged” with the “abuse” from Syrian families who demand the government provide them with more money and better jobs to feed their families.
Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates had some harsh words for President Obama’s $500 million plan to arm and train a tiny unit of carefully-vetted “moderate” Syrian rebels and send them into battle against the Assad regime, ISIS, and al-Qaeda.
Sanafi al-Nasr, al-Qaeda’s chief financial officer and highest-ranking leader of the Khorasan Group, a terrorist organization intent on attacking America and its allies in the West, was killed in a U.S.-led coalition airstrike in Syria, the Pentagon has announced.
