Iraq
Iraq: sectarian war escalating fast
Sectarian violence has killed at least 200 in Iraq since the start of Ramadan, and Hezbollah has launched an Iraqi wing to fight al-Qaeda’s networks in the country.
Tag: sectarian war
Greater Middle East
Syria: sectarian, ethnic fighting spreads
A rocket strike near an important Shi’ite shrine in Damascus sparked protests throughout the Shia world, while Kurdish militias fight jihadist forces in northern Syria.
South Asia
India: bomb blasts at Buddhism birthplace
A string of nine near-simultaneous bomb blasts in and around the Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya, India, revered as the birthplace of Buddhism, left two monks injured.
Greater Middle East
Egypt: escalating violence in Sinai Peninsula
Troops fired on protesters in the Sinai, and militants retaliated with armed attacks on police. A new Salafist network, Ansar al-Sharia in Egypt, pledges to resist the new regime.
Greater Middle East
UAE court sentences 69 activists in coup plot
A United Arab Emirates court gave sentences of up to 15 years in prison to 69 academics, lawyers and other professionals who are among 94 on trial for planning an Islamist coup.
Greater Middle East
Bahrain acquits police officers of torture charges
A Bahraini high criminal court acquitted two police officers on trial for the torture of six Shi’iite doctors during the uprising against the Sunni regime in 2011.
Iraq
UN urges Iraq to address human rights abuses
The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq released a report pressing Iraqi leaders to develop measures addressing the growing trend of human rights abuses in the country.
Palestine
Islamic Jihad severs ties with Hamas
The Islamic Jihad movement in Gaza announced that it is suspending ties with Hamas, accusing Gaza authorities of being responsible for the death of one of the group’s members.
Greater Middle East
US arms reach Syrian rebels?
The Free Syrian Army boasts of receiving new weapons shipments that could “change” the course of the war—amid revelations that the US has been arming them secretly for a year.
Mexico
Mexico: Israel training Chiapas police?
Israel’s embassy in Mexico City denied widespread reports in the Mexican media that Israeli military advisors are training police in the southern state of Chiapas.
Afghanistan
Will ‘peace’ mean betrayal of Afghan women?
The Taliban have opened a "political office" in Qatar preparatory to talks with Kabul and the US—after years of propaganda about the US defending women's rights in Afghanistan.
Iran
US, Iranian forces converge on Syria
Some 5,000 US troops are in Jordan to participate in the multi-national Eager Lion exercises—just as Iran is sending 4,000 Revolutionary Guards to support Syria's Bashar Assad.