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.
Tag: Kazakhstan
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Despite misleading media accounts, Moscow has only withdrawn its aircraft carier from Syria’s coast, and is in fact beefing up forces at its bases within the country.
Greater Middle East
Russia betrays Kurds as Syria alliance shifts
After initiating talks that exclude Washington, Turkey and Russia each accused the US of backing “terrorist groups” in Syria—obviously meaning the Kurds.
Inner 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.
Inner 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.
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.”
Inner Asia
GGR
With China accused of detaining hundreds of thousands of Uighur Muslims without trial in its western province of Xinjiang, a BBC investigation analyzed satellite data to determine that the detention camp system in the region is rapidly expanding. Reviewing images from the European Space Agency's Sentinel satellite service, the BBC finds at least 40 such facilities across Xinjiang, half built within last two years—with a big thrust of construction just in the past six months. Among the largest is a "massive, highly secure compound" still being built at Dabancheng, about an hour's drive from the provincial capital, Urumqi. It is enclosed within a two kilometer-long exterior wall punctuated by 16 guard towers. (Photo via UNPO)
Greater Middle East
Tuaregs flee Mali
Bashar Assad arrived in Russia to publicly thank Vladimir Putin for his military support in the ongoing re-conquest of Syria—prominently including the deployment of new missile systems. Undoubtedly discussed behind closed doors was the new "energy cooperation framework agreement" between Moscow and Damascus, under which Russia is to have exclusive rights to exploit oil and gas in Syria. (Photo of Vityaz missile launcher via Wikipedia)