Tag: Kazakhstan

Syria

Afrin and Ghouta: fearful symmetry

The imminent fall of rebel-held Ghouta to Russian-backed Assad regime forces approaches just after the fall of Kurdish-held Afrin to Turkish-backed rebel forces. As Arab and Kurd are pitted against each other, the Great Powers carve up Syria. But both sides are preparing to advance on Idlib next. Even as Trump talks of getting the US out of Syria, potential builds for a superpower confrontation.  (Photo of Aleppo ruins from UNHCR)

Syria

Syria: talks must address ‘disappeared’

International backers of negotiations to end the conflict in Syria should ensure that any transitional process includes a robust independent body to investigate thousands of “disappeared,” Human Rights Watch said Aug. 30, the UN-designated International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. The UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria has determined that the use of enforced disappearance by the Syrian regime is widespread, and may amount to a crime against humanity.

Syria

Syria: ‘crematorium’ at regime death camp?

Rights groups have long charged the Assad regime with mass murder at its Saydnaya military prison. What are we to make of US claims that a crematorium has been installed there?

Iraq

Multiple forces hit ISIS on all fronts

US, Iraqi, Kurdish, Turkish and Syrian rebel forces are closing the ring around ISIS—but in an uneasy alliance, with little plan for the future of seized territories.

Iraq

Can Assad (and Putin) reconquer all Syria?

Trump dramatically steps up US air-strikes along the Syrian border in Iraq, as Russia pitches the Kurds and Syrian rebels on a peace deal that will allow Assad to remain in power.

Syria

Syria: first joint US-Russian air-strikes?

The Pentagon denied Moscow’s claims of joint US-Russian air-strikes against ISIS, but the White House signalled its willingness to cooperate with Russia in Syria.

Syria

Russia ‘withdraws’ from Syria —not

Despite misleading media accounts, Moscow has only withdrawn its aircraft carier from Syria’s coast, and is in fact beefing up forces at its bases within the country.

Central Asia

ISIS hand seen Kazakhstan attacks

A team of gunmen killed three security officers and two civilians in an attack on  an office of the National Security Committee in Kazakhstan’s commercial capital Almaty.

Central Asia

Protests rock Kazakhstan over land-grabbing

Hundreds have been detained in protests across Kazakhstan over a new government policy to privatize farmlands and open the agricultural sector to foreign capital.

Watching the Shadows

US to release five Gitmo prisoners to Kazakhstan

The Defense Department announced that five prisoners at Guantánamo Bay will be released to Kazakhstan, bringing the number of detainees remaining at the facility to 127.

Europe

‘Fascism’ and the Ukraine protests

The Ukrainian protesters are demonized as “fascists,” exploiting far-right elements in their ranks—but there is a far greater case that the Yanukovich regime is truly “fascist.”