Armed Militias and Extremist Groups

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Grenade attack on IRGC kills 2 in Iran’s Kurdistan province: What to know

The deadly assault comes amid recurring tensions and clashes in Iran’s Kurdish-majority western region.

Members of the Syrian Kurdish Asayish security forces stand guard at the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp, which holds relatives of suspected Islamic State (IS) group fighters in the northeastern Hasakeh governorate, on April 18, 2025, as the Syrian Democratic Forces mount a security campaign against IS "sleeper cells" in the camp.

Damascus declares truce with Syria’s Kurdish forces after Aleppo skirmishes

US military helicopters delivered Syrian Kurdish commander Mazlum Kobane to Damascus in push to halt a burst of fighting overnight in Aleppo that risked unravelling the fragile rapprochement between Syria's two largest post-Assad forces.

OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Israel adapts, Turkey rises, Iran ruined: How 2 years of Gaza war reshaped Middle East

Turkey’s involvement worries Israel in Syria but also raises hopes for pressuring Hamas to agree to President Donald Trump's ceasefire proposal.

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

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.

Latest News

CENTCOM chief meets Syrian Kurdish leader in push for postwar unity

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

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.

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

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.

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

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna (C) and Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen (R) visit the damaged Barzilai Medical Center in the city of Ashkelon on October 15, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. Hamas launched a large-scale attack on Israel on October 7 which killed at least 1300 people, sparking a retaliatory bombing campaign that has killed more than 1900 in the Gaza Strip ahead of a potential Israeli ground invasion of the territory. (Photo b

France's top diplomat discusses hostages in Israel, ahead of Lebanon visit

French Minister Catherine Colonna met today in Israel with her counterpart Eli Cohen and with families of French-Israelis missing and kidnapped by Hamas before next traveling to Lebanon.

A picture taken from the southern Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip on Oct. 15, 2023.

Day 9 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Oct. 15

Nine days into the fighting between Israel and Hamas, nearly 1 million are now displaced in Gaza as rocket barrages continue in the direction of Israel and the Israeli bombardment intensifies on the enclave.

Israel army

Israel’s intelligence blunder on Gaza: Misreading Hamas abilities, intentions

Whether a result of hubris or something more mundane, Israel severely underestimated Hamas’s operational capabilities and intentions, believing that the group was content to sit on the sidelines, even as other groups like Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) were on the attack.

Colin P. Clarke

By Colin P. Clarke

In Pittsburgh, US, reporting on counterterrorism, militancy

Israel has pounded northern Gaza since Hamas's deadly incursion a week ago

Day 8 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Oct. 14

Eight days into the fighting between Israel and Hamas, nearly 1 million are now displaced in Gaza as rocket barrages continue in the direction of Israel and the Israeli bombardment intensifies on the enclave.

People inspect the damage to their home after Israeli strikes in the Rafah camp in southern Gaza

Day 7 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Oct. 13

As the clock ticks down for residents to evacuate north Gaza before a ground invasion, protests are rocking the Arab world and border clashes broken out between the Israeli military and the Lebanese Armed Forces.

Palestinian citizens inspect the damage to their homes caused by Israeli airstrikes on Oct. 13, 2023, in Gaza City.

Day 6 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Oct. 12

On day six of the war, Israel gave the United Nations a deadline to evacuate residents in northern Gaza ahead of a ground invasion.

Israel's army has hammered Hamas with thousands of strikes since Hamas gunmen killed 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, and took about 150 hostages

Day 5 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Oct. 11

On day five of the war, Gaza's humanitarian crisis deepens while Israel readies for a ground incursion against Hamas.

sraeli soldiers take positions near the Israeli military base of Har Dov on Mount Hermon, a strategic and fortified outpost at the crossroads between Israel, Lebanon, and Syria, on October 10, 2023. Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed three Hezbollah members on October 10 amid surging tensions after Palestinian militants tried to infiltrate Israel from Lebanon, in an escalation on Israel's northern border two days after Hamas militants launched an unprecedented attack on the country's southern flank from the

Explainer: As Lebanon-Israel border heats up, 3 armed groups stand out

Several Palestinian militants are active in southern Lebanon, a stronghold of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.

Tehran

Khamenei cheers Hamas' 'epic' attacks on Israel, but denies Iran role

While taking "pride in Palestinian youths" for their attacks on Israel, the Iranian leader shielded Tehran from mounting accusations that it was behind the deadly operations.

Explosions illuminate the sky during Israeli strikes on Gaza City on October 10, 2023. Israel said it recaptured Gaza border areas from Hamas as the war's death toll passed 3,000 on October 10, the fourth day of gruelling fighting since the Islamists launched a surprise attack. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP) (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images)

Day 4 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Oct. 10

This photograph taken on May 24, 2023 shows the US aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford cruising near Jeloya island, in Moss, south of Oslo. The ship is the world's largest warship and will be in port in Oslo for four days. Russia's embassy in Norway on Tuesday, May 23, 2023 hashly criticised the visit by the US aircraft carrier to Oslo as an "illogical and harmful" show of force. (Photo by Terje Pedersen / NTB / AFP) / Norway OUT (Photo by TERJE PEDERSEN/NTB/AFP via Getty Images)

Pentagon warns Iran, Hezbollah to stay out of Hamas war with Israel

The Biden administration deployed an aircraft carrier strike group in a bid to deter a multi-front war against Israel, but lack of a formal defense treaty with Israel and Congressional authorities could inhibit Washington's ability to respond.

Amir Levy/Getty Images

Day 3 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Oct. 9

On the third day of our live coverage, Israel called up reservists and was preparing for a ground offensive into the Gaza Strip.