Iraq
US ground troops to Iraq, Syria: Pentagon
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said in a statement to Congress that the US will begin ground operations against ISIS forces in Iraq and Syria.
Tag: ISIS
Greater Middle East
Turkey attacks Kurdish positions on Syrian border
Turkish military forces attacked Kurdish positions on the Syrian border, raising fears that Turkey is moving to establish its "buffer zone."
South Asia
Bangladesh: ISIS claims sectarian terror attack
ISIS claimed responsibility for blasts that targeted Shi'ites as they gathered in Dhaka for a procession marking the holy day of Ashura.
North Africa
Meanwhile in, um, Benghazi…
Missiles and mortar rounds were fired into a crowd of anti-Islamist demonstrators in central Benghazi, killing six and injuring many more.
Iraq
Iraq: sectarian terror in battle for Baiji
After taking the oil refinery city of Baiji from ISIS, Iraqi Shi'ite militias reported the discovery of some 20 mass graves—said to contain the bodies of over 350 ISIS fighters.
Greater Middle East
New Syrian rebel coalition unites Kurds, Arabs
A new coalition of 13 armed organizations announced the formation of the Democratic Forces of Syria, which is now planning a major offensive against ISIS.
Greater Middle East
AKP-ISIS collaboration in Ankara massacre?
Several PKK sympathizers have been arrested in connection with the Ankara suicide blasts—but the Turkish left charges that the ruling AKP collaborated with ISIS in the attack.
Greater Middle East
Lines drawn in imperial scramble for Syria
The US and Russia each groom their own rival proxy forces to fight ISIS and the Nusra Front—which in turn pledge to turn Syria into "another Afghanistan."
Greater Middle East
Amnesty charges Syrian Kurds with ethnic cleansing
Amnesty International accuses Syrian Kurdish forces of ethnic cleansing against Arabs and Turks in areas liberated from ISIS, raising pressure on Kurdish authorities for an accounting.
Greater Middle East
Peace demands unbowed by Ankara massacre
Kurdish and Turkish activists are continuing to demand "peace despite everything" after twin suicide blasts at an Ankara anti-war rally killed at least 100 and injured twice as many.
Palestine
ISIS enters Israel-Palestine fray?
Israel carried out air-strikes on the Gaza Strip in response to a rocket attack from the territory—said to have been claimed by a faction that has pledged loyalty to ISIS.
North Africa
Tunisia: progressive forces still under attack
The same day the Tunisia Quartet civil activist group was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, a parliamentarian from the center-left ruling coalition survived an assassination attempt.