Iraq
Turkey inciting genocide against Kurds
Amid reports of jihadist chemical attacks on Kurds in both Syria and Iraq, Turkey is reviving the same propaganda against Kurds that was used during the Armenian genocide.
Tag: al-Qaeda
Syria
Slain ISIS ‘war minister’ trained by US in Georgia?
“Omar the Chechen,” a top-ranking ISIS commander apparently killed in a US air-strike in Syria, is said to have been trained by the Pentagon when he fought the Russians in Georgia. (Photo via Levant Report)
Africa
Somalia: US air-strikes on Shabaab camp
US drones and warplanes killed more than 150 al-Shabab militants in Somalia, with the Pentagon citing an "imminent threat" to US and African Union forces.
Greater Middle East
Turkey releases journalists charged with espionage
A Turkish court released two journalists who were arrested last year after reporting that the Ankara government was running a smuggling operation to arm Islamist factions in Syria.
Watching the Shadows
Obama delivers Gitmo closure plan to Congress
President Obama delivered his plan to close Guantánamo Bay to Congress—to be immediately met by Republican opposition, with Ted Cruz calling for the facility's expansion.
Greater Middle East
Syria: whose side is Israel on?
The Israeli security establishment and its neocon allies are divided between those who would destabilize Assad and those who would prop him with up as the Devil they know.
Greater Middle East
Are Rojava Kurds taking the Russian bait?
Syria's Rojava Kurds are accused of coordinating with Russian air-strikes to take territory held by Islamist factions—while Turkey warns them against any further advance.
Greater Middle East
US must choose between Turkey and anti-ISIS fight
The US aids Syrian Kurds against ISIS even as it acquiesces in Turkey's counterinsurgency against allied Kurdish forces just across the border—undermining anti-ISIS unity.
Greater Middle East
Kurds caught in Russo-Turkish game… again
With Turkey insisting that the Syrian Kurds be barred from upcoming Geneva peace talks, Russia is pressing for their participation—while pursuing its grisly campaign of aerial terror.
Africa
AQIM claims Burkina Faso attack
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb issued a statement saying the Ouagadougou attack was carried out by "mujahideen brothers" of its West African franchise, al-Mourabitoun.
Southeast Asia
Jakarta: ISIS franchise exploited sectarian tensions
The ISIS-affiliated network that carried out the Jakarta attacks emerged from the sectarian conflict between Muslims and Christians in Indonesia's Central Sulawesi province.
Watching the Shadows
Last Kuwaiti Guantánamo detainee repatriated
The last Kuwaiti held at Guantánamo, supposed Osama bin Laden advisor Faiz Mohammed Ahmed al-Kandari, was repatriated after years of pressure from Kuwait's government.