Greater Middle East
Kurdish wild card in Syria conflict
Kurdish militias in Syria—some linked to the PKK—are battling jihadist rebels, but it is uncertain if they necessarily back the Damascus regime.
Tag: sectarian war
Greater Middle East
Lebanon issues warrant for Syrian official
A Lebanese judge issued an arrest warrant for a top Syrian intelligence official and his aide for alleged involvement in a bombing plot in Lebanon.
Afghanistan
Pakistan: Shi’ites stage die-in āfor real
Shi'ites in Quetta, capital of Pakistan's Balochistan province, spent three nights in the freezing cold with the bodies of their slain loved ones at one of the city's main intersections.
Greater Middle East
UN rights office: 60,000 killed in Syria conflict
A study by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights finds that more than 60,000 people have been killed in the conflict in Syria since March 2011.
Iraq
Iraq: sectarian attacks, protests
A wave of bomb attacks across Iraq taregted Shi'ite pilgrims, as Sunni protesters blocked highways to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
Afghanistan
Pakistan to Lebanon: Shi’ites under attack
Bomb attacks on Shi’ite processions marking Ashura claimed lives in Pakistan, while Sunnis and Shi’ites clashed in Kabul and a planned attack on Shi’ites was thwarted in Lebanon.
Iraq
Iraq exports Islamist militants to Syria?
Arabic-language news services report that 15 accused al-Qaeda members who recently escaped from a prison in Tikrit, Iraq, are now leading insurgent groups in Syria.
South Asia
Buddhist-Muslim tensions follow Bangladesh riots
Buddhists in Burma and Sri Lanka held anti-Muslim protests after Muslim rioters in Bangladesh torched Buddhist temples in response to a Facebook post denigrating the Koran.
Iraq
Iraq: execution spree protested
Human rights groups fear Iraq’s government may be using state-sanctioned executions to eliminate opponents held in prison following spate of over 20 executions last month.
North Africa
The left and the jihad: love-hate relationship?
"Leftists" in the West are waxing paranoid about how the Syrian revolutionaries are a bunch of jihadists. But if the West intervenes in Mali, they will likely be rooting for jihadists—again.
Iran
Syria: flashpoint for war with Iran?
With Tehran revealed to be supplying Damascus with arms through Iraqi airspace, events in Syria could be propelling the US towards unprecedented military commitments.
Greater Middle East
Aleppo archbishop flees as Syria slips towards sectarian war
The Melkite Catholic archbishop of Aleppo flees Syria after his offices are sacked by jihadistsāas the US State Department establishes an Istanbul office to aid the Syrian rebels.