Iraq

ISIS massacres in Syria; Assad to aid Kurds?

ISIS fighters are accused of executing some 700 tribesmen who rose against them in eastern Syria, as Bashar Assad said he is ready to back Kurdish forces against the jihadis.

Iraq

Peshmerga drive back ISIS; Baghdad divided

Kurdish Peshmerga forces with US air cover started to drive back ISIS from Erbil—but Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's refusal to step down is driving Sunnis into the arms of the jihadists.

Iraq

US air-strikes target ISIS advance on Erbil

US jets and drones carried out air-strikes outside Erbil in an effort to drive back the ISIS advance on the Kurdish regional capital, while Iraqi warplanes struck near Mosul.

Greater Middle East

ISIS take village in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley

The capture of an ISIS commander by the Lebanese army prompted Syrian jihadist forces to seize a village in the Bekaa Valley, sparking gun battles that have left some 20 dead.

Iraq

Resistance to ISIS mounts in Syria, Iraq

Forces both aligned with and against the regimes in Iraq and Syria are mobilizing in both countries to beat back ISIS—Shi'ites, Sufis, Ba'athists and the secular civil resistance.

Greater Middle East

Bahrain files suit to suspend opposition group

Bahrain's Ministry of Justice filed a suit seeking to suspend all activities of the main Shi'ite opposition group, whose leaders were accused of an illegal meeting with a US diplomat.

Iraq

Iraq: mass murder of Sunni prisoners

Iraqi security forces and pro-government militias have unlawfully executed at least 250 Sunni prisoners in six Iraqi cities and villages, Human Rights Watch reports.

Iraq

Iraq: great power convergence against ISIS

The US and Iran alike are sending drones to Iraq to help the government beat back ISIS, while Russia has followed Washington in sending warplanes and military advisors.

Iraq

Iraq: cultural cleansing in Mosul

The ISIS militants that have seized Mosul are engaged in a campaign of cultural cleansing—targeting not only the citiy's inhabitants, but its artistic and historical treasures.