Armed Militias and Extremist Groups

Former senior commander of the Sudanese Janjaweed militia Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman.

In a first, ICC convicts Sudanese militia leader of Darfur war crimes

Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman was found guilty of 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur between 2003 and 2004.

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

CENTCOM chief meets Syrian Kurdish leader in push for postwar unity

A senior US Navy admiral joined Trump envoy Tom Barrack in efforts to break the impasse between Syria’s Kurdish-led forces and Damascus on postwar unification.

Lebanese army soldiers and security forces deploy near a vehicle that was hit by a reported drone-strike at the entrance of the village of Barja, about 30 kilometres south of Beirut, on Sept. 9, 2025.

US approves $230M for Lebanon’s push to disarm Hezbollah

New US funds for Beirut signal rare bipartisan approval for progress by Lebanon's security forces as they dismantle Hezbollah weapons caches, but significant risks remain as the militant faction resists full disarmament.

People who fled the Zamzam camp for the internally displaced after it fell under RSF control walk in a makeshift encampment in an open field near the town of Tawila in war-torn Sudan's western Darfur region on April 13, 2025.

Sudan army steps up airstrikes as Darfur siege tightens: What to know

In September, a top Sudanese general announced an offensive to take back the Darfur region from the RSF, and the army is following through.

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Analysis

Netanyahu hamstrung by far right, Trump as Hamas drags feet on Gaza plan

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

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

US troop drawdown in Syria on hold over regime stability concerns

RAGHED WAKED/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Jared Szuba

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

US troops in Iraq shift to Erbil to focus on ISIS in Syria

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - MAY 30: A U.S. Army soldier looks onto Baghdad from a guardhouse on the perimeter of the International Zone on May 30, 2021 in Baghdad, Iraq. Coalition forces based in Baghdad's International Zone are part of the U.S.-led Military Advisor Group of 13 nations supporting the Iraqi Security Forces. The United States currently maintains 2,500 military personnel in Iraq as part of Operation Inherent Resolve. Alpha Company 769th brigade Engineer Battalion, Louisiana National Guard is providing for

Iraqi cleric Sadr says he is ready for ‘escalation’ as tensions heat up ahead of elections

Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr gives a speech in Iraq's central holy shrine city of Najaf on Aug. 30, 2022.

A man lifts a placard depicting slain Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani (L) and Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, as fighters bearing flags of Iraq and paramilitary groups, including al-Nujaba and Kataib Hezbollah, march during a funeral in Baghdad for five militants killed a day earlier in a US strike in northern Iraq, on December 4, 2023. Dozens of mourners gathered on December 4 for the funeral of the five militants killed the previous day near Kirkuk in what a US military official described as a "s

Breaking | Last Updated: January 31, 2024, 8:12 am

Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah announces suspension of attacks against US forces

The decision follows a deadly strike on US forces in Jordan and ahead of anticipated retaliation by Washington.

A US soldier takes part in the "Eager Lion" multinational military manuever, in the Al-Zarqa governorate, some 85km northeast of the Jordanian capital Amman, on Sept. 14, 2022.

After Jordan drone attack, US has few options to de-escalate with Iran

The Biden White House faces increasing pressure to respond to the deadliest attack on the US military since 2021 as Israel's war in Gaza thrusts some 30,000 troops in the Middle East closer toward war with Iran and its proxies.

OZAN KOSE/Afp/AFP via Getty Images

What does ISIS' church attack in Turkey say about rise of Tajikistani militants?

The shooting at a church in Istanbul marks the first Islamic State attack in Turkey since 2017 as the extremist offshoot ISIS-K seeks to expand.

Security and emergency personnel search the rubble of a building destroyed in a reported Israeli strike in Damascus on January 20, 2024. An Israeli strike on Damascus killed the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' intelligence chief for Syria and three other Guards members on January 20, Iran said, in an attack that tore into a multi-storey residential building. (Photo by Louai BESHARA / AFP) (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel carries out strikes in Syria targeting south Damascus: government

A number of Iranian IRGC members have been killed in strikes in Syria attributed to Israel in recent weeks.

David C. Mercil/US Navy/Getty Images

Two US Navy SEALs presumed dead after anti-Houthi raid: Pentagon

The two special operators are presumed dead after attempting to board a stateless boat off Somalia earlier this month.

Pakistan activists protest in Lahore on Jan. 19, 2024, after Iran launched an airstrike in Pakistan's southwest Baluchistan province.

What's behind Turkey's muted response to Iran-Pakistan escalation?

Two considerations stand out in Turkey’s muted response to recent Iranian strikes in Iraq and Pakistan.

The second stealth guided missile destroyer of Project 15B of the Indian navy is seen docked at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai.

India secures trade, power with new naval role in Middle East

Without aligning directly with the US-led mission against the Houthis in Yemen, the Indian navy's independent operations set a precedent for India's evolving military posture in West Asia and mark a departure from its traditional strategic restraint.

Mohammed Soliman

By Mohammed Soliman

In Washington, DC, reporting on Gulf politics

Pakistani police officers stand guard outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad on Jan. 18, 2024. Pakistan said on Jan. 18 it carried out strikes against militant targets in Iran, after Tehran launched attacks on Pakistani territory earlier this week.

How Iran miscalculated its gamble in the Pakistan strike

With its brief attack on Pakistani territory, Iran appears to have shot itself in the foot, inadvertently playing into the Western argument that Tehran is a destabilizing state in an already volatile region.

A Baloch militant (L) hands over his gun and surrenders to Baluchistan province Chief Minister Sardar Sanaullah Khan Zehri (R) in Quetta on April 21, 2017. Around 500 Baloch rebel militants on April 21 surrendered to Pakistan's government as Islamabad pursues its development agenda linked to the ambitious China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in the southwest province. / AFP PHOTO / BANARAS KHAN (Photo credit should read BANARAS KHAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Across Baluchistan, who are the groups targeted by Iran, Pakistan?

The cross-border strikes have raised questions about the separatist groups operating in the border area between Iran and Pakistan.

GHULAM RASOOL/AFP via Getty Images

Pakistan conducts strikes inside Iran as China, Turkey call for restraint

The region is already at a boiling point as the Israel-Hamas war continues to reverberate across the Middle East, with attacks in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.

AKROTIRI, CYPRUS - JANUARY 12: In this handout image provided by the UK Ministry of Defence, an RAF Typhoon aircraft returns to berth following a strike mission on Yemen's Houthi rebels at RAF Akrotiri on January 12, 2024 in Akrotiri, Cyprus. On Thursday evening, four RAF Typhoons launched from RAF Akrotiri to conduct strikes against Yemen's Houthi rebels, who have been targeting merchant vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden with missiles and drones. According to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the s

Fourth round of US strikes in Yemen as Houthis vow retaliation

The US launched the strikes just hours after the Houthis hit a US-owned, Marshall Islands-flagged cargo vessel off Yemen's southern coast on Wednesday.

Pakistani and Iranian flags flutter on the closed Pakistan-Iran border in Taftan on February 25, 2020 as fears over the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus escalate following an outbreak in neighbouring Iran. - The Iranian outbreak where at least 15 people have already died -- the highest death toll in any country outside of China -- has aggravated already frayed nerves in neighbouring Afghanistan and Pakistan. (Photo by Banaras KHAN / AFP) (Photo by BANARAS KHAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran-Pakistan tensions simmer after strikes, IRGC officer killed in southeast

Iran is seeking to contain the damage to its relationship with Pakistan following a deadly Iranian military strike in Pakistani territory targeting a dissident group.