A former Guantánamo prisoner released in 2006 after he was extradited to Spain has reportedly been sentenced to 11 1/2 years in prison by Spanish court for leading a recruiting cell for al-Qaeda out of the European country’s capital.
Contents: Russian warplanes drop phosphorus bombs and bunker buster bombs on Aleppo; Comparisons of Syria civil war to Sri Lanka civil war; US, UK, UN officials accuse Syria and Russia of barbarism and war crimes
Contents: Syria’s al-Assad goes for the kill, turning Aleppo and civilians to bloody rubble; Responses to reader comments
Contents: As Syria ceasefire begins, Bashar al-Assad quickly rejects it; Confusion grows over role of al-Nusra Front in US-Russia peace plan
Contents: Turkey presses to establish a ‘no-fly zone’ in northern Syria; Turkey’s forces and Kurdish forces set to clash in Manbij; US and Russia once again announced a peace deal in Syria
The U.S.-led air campaign’s primary focus on the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) in the Middle East has helped a former al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria gain strength, U.S. military officials and other analysts have acknowledged.
Contents: Stephen K. Bannon is named chairman of Donald Trump’s campaign; Furious UN envoy Staffan de Mistura excoriates Syria’s Bashar al-Assad; Six years of UN envoys and Syrian peace talks
Contents: Syria’s Al-Nusra splits with al-Qaeda, becoming Jabhat Fateh al-Sham; Al-Nusra may have learned lessons from failures of ISIS and al-Qaeda in Iraq
The Russian military on June 16 bombed a “secret base” near the Jordanian border in Syria used by “elite American and British forces” as part of efforts to strong arm the Obama administration into agreeing to cooperate with Moscow, reports The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
TEL AVIV – Russia’s military says one of its helicopters was downed by the Islamic State in Syria, killing two of its airmen.
Three migrants, who are thought to be members of the Al-Nusra Front and a Shia militia, were arrested by Austrian police at asylum homes in Tirol. The three migrants who were arrested by Austrian police in Tirol are said to have
TEL AVIV – A top Islamic State-tied jihadist in the Gaza Strip claimed in an interview on Sunday that he “knows” that Omar Mateen, the Orlando club shooter, was a member of a terrorist organization. Abu al-Ayna al-Ansari, a Salafist
Contents: Report: Israel and Saudi Arabia are allying against Iran and Hezbollah; Iran and Hezbollah turn focus of hostility from Israel to Saudi Arabia; Shifting Israeli alliances in the Mideast
The Times of Israel reports: Despite a pairing up of two Islamic State-linked militant groups on Israel’s northern border and a show of boldness by the new alliance, their threat to the Jewish state remains minimal, experts on jihadi groups in Syria told the Times of Israel.
Contents: Venezuela’s Maduro accuses US of planning an imminent invasion; Syria peace talks in Vienna collapse in farce – again
Al-Qaeda may be training one of Osama bin Laden’s young sons for a leadership position within the jihadist organization, according to a newly surfaced video that features his voice.
The London Daily Telegraph reports: Three Spanish journalists kidnapped in Syria some 10 months ago have been freed, the Spanish Press Federation (FAPE) and government said on Saturday.
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s top cleric has reportedly issued a religious decree, or fatwa, ordering the tyrant’s military to “show us their rage in exterminating” civilians in the besieged and divided city of Aleppo.
Contents: Massive earthquakes in Japan and Ecuador are linked by the Ring of Fire; Syria chemical weapons accidentally kill Hezbollah militias; Latest Syrian ‘peace process’ appears near collapse; Saudi Arabia ends oil summit negotiations as Iran fails to show up
TEL AVIV – Amid reports that a Syrian jet was shot down by rebels utilizing an antiaircraft missile, questions immediately arise as to where exactly the jihadi and moderate groups fighting Bashar al-Assad’s regime may have obtained such weaponry.
Contents: Syrian jihadists shoot down regime warplane, capture pilot; Radical Islamists finding a new home in Bosnia and Balkan states
Contents: Russia declared ‘Mission complete’ in Syria and withdrew, but the war rages on; Bangladesh’s Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) terror group targets ‘atheist bloggers’
Contents: Generational Dynamics view of Brussels terror attack; Gone With The Wind
Islamic State fighters killed 26 Syrian soldiers on Monday west of Palmyra, a monitoring group said, after days of advances by government forces backed by Syrian and Russian air cover. Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that the Syrian
Contents: Russia announces a surprise partial military withdrawal from Syria; Opinions vary on why Russia pulled back from Syria now
The Pentagon and CIA do not believe Russia will honor the ceasefire agreement in Syria arrived at this week, according to sources speaking to The Wall Street Journal.
Militant Islamists have reportedly shot two men in cold blood in front of a mosque in the Syrian city of Idlib, charged with having furnished “relief materials to the towns of Al-Fu’ah and Kafriya,” currently under siege by the Sunni
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has called parliamentary elections in April, a decision both expected and believed to have little effect on Assad himself. Nonetheless, Russian and Iranian media are applauding Assad following an agreement between Russia and the United States to a ceasefire end to hostilities in Syria on February 27.
Contents: China building powerful new radar system in South China Sea; Report: China’s military buildup neutralizes America’s aircraft carriers; John Kerry and Russia announce a new Syria peace plan
Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Monday he was sceptical that a Syria ceasefire announced for February 27 by the United States and Russia will succeed. He also said that both Washington and Moscow recognise Israeli freedom of action
