Armed Militias and Extremist Groups

AFP via Getty Images

Assad's tycoon cousin, Rami Makhlouf, forms militia on Syria's Alawite coast: What we know

Rami Makhlouf, cousin of deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said on social media he is working with former commander Suhail al-Hassan following the massacres of Alawites on the coast.

An Israeli army Merkava main battle tank is carried on the back of a trailer truck to be deployed near a watchtower of the UN-patrolled buffer zone's Quneitra checkpoint, separating Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights, on March 2, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Israel doubts Syria breakthrough as Sharaa signals openness to Abraham Accords

Syria's new leader seems open to joining the Abraham Accords under 'certain conditions,' but Israelis remain skeptical about his true intentions and an emerging alliance with Turkey.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

In this Dec. 10, 2020, photo released by the Royal Hashemite Court, Jordan's King Abdullah II gives a speech during the inauguration of the 19th parliament's non-ordinary session, in Amman, Jordan.

Jordan bans Muslim Brotherhood: Here's what to know about the group

The Muslim Brotherhood, which calls for the Islamization of society, is popular throughout parts of the Arab world but has been banned by several countries in the region.

Fighters loyal to the army patrol a market area in Khartoum on March 24, 2025. For nearly two years, Sudan has been ravaged by a war between the regular army and the RSF, a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted over 12 million more and created the world's largest hunger and displacement crises. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Sudan: Over 40 dead, 400,000 displaced in RSF's siege on El Fasher

Over 40 people have been killed and approximately 450,000 displaced by the Rapid Support Forces' continued assault on El Fasher, with shelling targeting both civilian areas and refugee camps.

Latest News

Palestinian Islamic Jihad says Syria arrested 2 members: What we know

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa (R) and Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani (L) bid farewell to participants at the Syrian National Dialogue Conference.

Feature

Nightlife rocks Raqqa as Syria’s Islamist leaders navigate power

Raqqa

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Analysis

Under US pressure, can Lebanon disarm Hezbollah without Iran's green light?

Teargas fumes erupt during clashes between supporters of the Lebanese Shiite Islamist movement Hezbollah and the Lebanese Army amidst a Hezbollah-organised rally to block the road to Beirut International Airport over a decision to bar two Iranian flights from landing there, in Beirut on February 15, 2025. An AFP correspondent said tear gas was fired to disperse crowds on February 15 after again blocking amidst calls by the Iran-backed group for a sit-in. (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP) (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO/

Dario Sabaghi

By Dario Sabaghi

Exclusive

Syria's Kurds say Trump aid cuts are feeding radicalism in ISIS camps

Women are seen walking at the Roj Camp in northeast Syria, on April 8, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

AFP via Getty Images

UN accuses Sudan’s RSF of rape, ethnic killings as Hemedti courts region

A new UN report has documented the shocking brutality of the Rapid Support Forces led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo in Sudan’s Darfur region.

A US F/A-18 taxis to the runway of the USS Eisenhower in the southern Red Sea. Feb. 21, 2024

Analysis

US Navy faces down Houthi attacks as Washington signals open-ended effort

Saudi Arabia has restricted the US military from launching strikes in Yemen via Saudi airspace, leaving an aging US Navy aircraft carrier to shoulder the campaign in the Red Sea.

Jared Szuba

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

US seizes Iranian missile parts in Arabian Sea headed to Yemen's Houthis

The United States has struggled to choke off Iran's smuggling of weapons components to Yemen's Houthi rebels.

AFP via Getty Images

What we know about Iran's gas pipelines explosions

Iran has experienced several explosions, fires and other disruptions in recent years, and some of them have been blamed on the United States and Israel.

JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

France leads EU in sanctioning violent Israeli settlers

France has become the first European Union member state to enact sanctions against extremist Israeli settlers.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani speaks next to US Maj. Gen. Joel "J.B." Vowell as part of the first round of talks on the future of American and other foreign troops in the country, in Baghdad, on Jan. 27, 2024.

As tensions with Iran rise, US resumes talks with Iraq on troop presence

Attacks fall silent as Shia bloc in parliament pushes petition to expel American troops from Iraq.

Jared Szuba

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

This picture shows Al-Maqoussi towers area on February 3, 2024, in the aftermath of Israeli bombardment on Gaza City, as battles continue between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Hamas reemerges in northern Gaza weeks after Israel said it's dismantled

Hamas is firmly established in Palestinian society allowing it to continue to regroup after successive Israeli campaigns, as long as the conditions that allowed for its establishment in the first place continue to exist.

A portrait of Abu Baqr al-Saadi, a prominent leader of Kataib Hezbollah killed in a strike a day earlier by a US drone in Baghdad, is plastered on a car during his funeral in Baghdad, Feb. 8, 2024.

What’s next for Iraq and the US after drone strike killed militia leader?

The Iraqi government strongly condemned the US strike that killed Abu Baqir al-Saadi, as did Iran-backed militias in the country.

People watch as a vehicle that was hit by a drone strike, reportedly killing three people including two leaders of a pro-Iran group, is carried away in Baghdad on Feb. 7, 2024.

US brings retribution to Iran-backed militia leader in Baghdad strike

The assassination of a Kataib Hezbollah commander in Baghdad on Wednesday came as the US military has struggled to intimidate Iran-backed groups without escalating towards direct conflict with Iran amid tensions over Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Baghdad

Breaking | Last Updated: February 7, 2024, 10:37 pm

US strike in Baghdad kills Kataib Hezbollah commander as Iraq tensions simmer

A Telegram channel affiliated with Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) reported that Abu Baqir al-Saadi, a commander in Kataib Hezbollah, was killed in the attack.

People walk past the Caglayan Justice Palace courthouse in Istanbul on March 21, 2022. - Turkey's leading activist Osman Kavala, who at the weekend marked his 1,600th day in prison without conviction, will appear in court on March 21, 2022, in a case that has strained Ankara's ties with the West. Kavala attends the court hearing via video link from his prison.

Breaking | Last Updated: February 6, 2024, 2:33 pm

Attack in Istanbul leaves 3 dead, Turkey's second in week

Authorities blame a far-left militant group for the attack, which claimed several bombings in Turkey over the past decades including a 2013 suicide bombing attack on the US Embassy in Ankara.

Two bank employees count dollars and Iraqi dinars in Baghdad on Sept. 28, 2000.

Why Iraq's dinar is trading below official dollar rate amid new restrictions

A top US official visited Iraqi officials last week to discuss countering illicit finance and strengthening Iraq’s financial system.