Islamic State

Gen. Michael Langley, commander of US Africa Command, testifies during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

Top US general calls out Houthi-Shabaab ties across Yemen-Somalia strait

The Pentagon has opened the aperture on al-Shabaab in recent months, allowing AFRICOM to ramp up strikes on the al-Qaeda offshoot in the Horn of Africa.

Jared Szuba

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

An Israeli soldier checks a Merkava battle tank deployed at a position in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights along the border with southern Syria on March 25, 2025. Israel's military said it carried out a second strike in Syria on March 25, in response to incoming fire from across the demarcation line, hours after Syrian authorities reported that at least five people had been killed as a result of Israeli shelling. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Are Lebanon, Syria ripe for peace with Israel or on cusp of more escalation?

While some Israeli leaders hope for normalized ties with Lebanon and Syria, others warn that the uncertainty of the current situation could become permanent or deteriorate.

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

Fidan Syria

Analysis

Turkey, alarmed by sectarian clashes, steps up Syria role, criticizes Iran

As last week’s bloody clashes in Syria have deepened divisions among Turkish experts over the country's future, Turkey’s priorities in Syria remain focused on countering the SDF and combating ISIS.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

A general view shows a burnt out vehicle next to a banner bearing the Islamic State group's flag in the village of Dibsiafnan on the western outskirts of the Islamist's Syrian bastion of Raqa, after Syrian pro-government forces entered the area on June 11, 2017.

Exclusive

Turkey to host regional summit in April on counter-ISIS operations

Technical talks for the formation of a joint regional operation center against ISIS have begun as efforts to create an alternative to US-led coalition Syrian Democratic Forces against the Islamic State take shape.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Latest News

Armenia joins US-led global coalition against Islamic State

Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan arrives for a plenary session at the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit, at the Grand Palais, in Paris, on Feb. 11, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

In Paris, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Turkey escalates push to replace Kurds as top anti-ISIS force in Syria

A fighter of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) aims a machine gun while lying prone during a joint military exercise with forces of the US-led "Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve" coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group in the countryside of the town of al-Malikiya (Derik in Kurdish) in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on Sept. 7, 2022.

Turkey, Jordan, Iraq to hold first anti-ISIS summit this month: Turkish official

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) speaks during a joint press conference with Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein (R), Baghdad, Iraq, Aug. 22, 2023.

Khamenei pushes for US withdrawal from Iraq in meeting with Sudani

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (R) and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran on Jan. 8, 2024.

Women and a child queue to receive humanitarian aid packages at the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp.

Analysis

How ISIS brides held by Syria’s Kurds are smuggled to suitors in Europe

The women are finding their prospective husbands on the internet using smuggled mobile phones.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

In Paris, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

ISIS kills five Hezbollah-linked fighters in Syria: war monitor

The clashes come amid reports of an ISIS resurgence in Syria as well as an increase in activity in Europe.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz addresses media after a visit at the site of a knife attack in Solingen, Western Germany, on August 26, 2024.

Analysis

What’s behind the flurry of ISIS attacks in Europe?

ISIS’ network in Europe includes an older generation of fighters who have returned from Iraq and Syria, as well as younger, self-radicalized ones that are harder to contain, said one expert.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente , Rosaleen Carroll

HADI MIZBAN/AFP via Getty Images

US-Iraq raids puts scrutiny on Baghdad’s ability to contain ISIS

Seven US troops were injured during raids to take down senior Islamic State operatives in Iraq’s western Anbar province last week amid a spike in ISIS attacks.

Iraqi fighters of the Hashed al-Shaabi stand next to a wall bearing the Islamic State (IS) group flag as they enter the city of Al Qaim as they fight against remnant pockets of Islamic State group jihadists on November 3, 2017.

Iraq says 14 ISIS members killed in airstrikes

Iraqi forces said ISIS leaders were among those killed in the desert strikes, as discussions on the US troop presence in the country and the group’s persistence in neighboring Syria continue.

ABU DHABI, 4th June, 2024 (WAM) -- President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan received an Afghan delegation led by Sirajuddin Haqqani, Minister of Interior Affairs.

Analysis

Qatar rivalry, security concerns drive UAE thaw with Afghanistan’s Taliban

The UAE has formally acknowledged a Taliban-appointed representative, making it only the second country, after China, to do so.

Sabena Siddiqui

By Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

Iraqi security forces monitor the area during a demonstration to demand the withdrawal of the Turkish troops from the Bashiqa camp, located in the Mosul province, on Oct. 8, 2016, outside the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad.

Analysis

Turkey’s security pact with Iraq: Which side came out on top?

The most contested presence for Baghdad is the military base established by Turkish forces in 2015 near the Iraqi town of Bashiqa.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

In Paris, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) gather near a US Bradley Fighting Vehicle (BFV) during a joint military exercise with forces of the US-led "Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve" coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group in the countryside of the town of al-Malikiya (Derik in Kurdish) in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on Sept. 7, 2022.

Clashes between Arab tribes, SDF forces in Syria pose challenge to US

The clashes between Iranian-backed Arab tribes and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, supported by the United States, come at a time of heightened tensions in the region ahead of an imminent Iranian response to the killing of Hamas’ leader.

Radical cleric Anjem Choudary is seen leaving a probation hostel in London on Oct. 19, 2018, following his release from prison.

What’s behind UK's terrorism conviction of Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary?

Choudary was previously imprisoned for his support of ISIS and has long campaigned for the imposition of Islamic law in the UK.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Analysis

What’s behind Islamic State’s first attack in Oman?

ISIS has not affected Oman as much as it has other Gulf countries, in part due to the sultanate’s strong security and lack of radicalism, according to one expert.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

An internal security patrol escorts women, reportedly wives of Islamic State fighters, in the al-Hol camp in al-Hasakah governorate in northeastern Syria, on July 23, 2019.

Widow of ISIS leader sentenced to death in Iraq: What we know

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's wife held Yazidi women captured by the Islamic State in her home, according to Iraqi authorities.

Troops from the Ethiopian African Union Mission to Somalia on patrol, in Baidoa, Somalia, Sept. 3, 2022.

Analysis

Somalia eyes fresh external support amid fears of al-Shabab takeover

Mogadishu’s counterinsurgency effort appears to be faltering as African peacekeepers prepare to leave, fanning fears of an Afghanistan-like collapse.

Cagatay Cebe

By Cagatay Cebe

In Istanbul, reporting on security and counterterrorism