Islamic State

RAGHED WAKED/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

US troop drawdown in Syria on hold over regime stability concerns

While American troops in Iraq hand over operations against the Islamic State to Baghdad's forces, the parallel drawdown in neighboring Syria has been halted amid concerns about the abilities of the new Islamist-led government in Damascus.

Jared Szuba

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

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

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

The US mission against the Islamic State is relocating its headquarters and most of its troops from Baghdad to Erbil as the prime minister's coalition faces reelection in November.

Women and children walk at the Al-Amal Camp (formerly Al-Jadaa), south of Mosul in northern Iraq, which houses Iraqi families who have been repatriated from Syria's Al-Hol camp, on May 8, 2025.

Pentagon pushes to accelerate ISIS detainee repatriations from Syria

Uncertainty about Syria’s long-term stability and the the US military’s future presence in the country have increased urgency among some Pentagon officials to further reduce the population of nearly 30,000 suspected ISIS-associated detainees in the camps.

STEPHANE YAS/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraq announces ISIS network busted in West Africa: What to know

Activity by the Islamic State’s West Africa branch is increasing, according to some observers, and Iraq is looking to strengthen counterterrorism coordination with other states.

Latest News

12 international, local firms bid to operate Iraq's Mosul airport destroyed by ISIS

An Iraqi Airways aircraft is parked at the gate at Baghdad airport on Feb. 20, 2025.

US raid kills senior ISIS official near Syria's border with Turkey

Iraq begins exhuming ISIS mass grave at Al-Khasfa thought to hold 3,000+ victims

Workers dig out human remains at the Khasfa site near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, where authorities have begun excavating a mass grave believed to contain thousands of victims of the Islamic State (IS) on Aug. 17, 2025.

Syrian forces dismantle ISIS cell near Turkish border: What to know

A grafitti on a wall in Tadamon that depicts the flag of the ISIS. Tadamon, Syria, on Feb. 7, 2025.

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

Khamenei pushes for US withdrawal from Iraq in meeting with Sudani

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s trip to Tehran is his first since the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and comes ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

US army soldiers queue to board a plane to begin their journey home out of Iraq from the Ain al-Asad Air Base west of the capital, Baghdad, on Nov. 1, 2011.

Exclusive

Syria's new Islamist rulers reduce Iraq's appetite for US troop withdrawal

Iraq's prime minister is heading to Iran to discuss concerns about Syria's new rulers, as Baghdad is considering the delay of the US troop withdrawal to address regional instability.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

US soldiers inspect the site of reported Turkish shelling days earlier on an oil extraction facility on the outskirts of Rumaylan, in Syria's Kurdish-controlled northeastern Hasakeh province on Oct. 28, 2024.

Pentagon denies US base at Kobani in Syria's Kurdish-led northeast

A spokesperson publicly dismissed rumors that US troops would establish a base in the Syrian Kurdish stronghold border town, which remains under threat by Turkey-backed rebels.

OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

From BRICS to dwindling oil revenues, 2024 was mixed year for Gulf

The ongoing conflict in Gaza, big international investment deals, low oil revenue and increased curtailing of democratic rights dominated Gulf politics and economy in 2024

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

Fighters of Turkish-supported forces are positioned on the Buwayhij-Boughaz-Korhoyuk frontline on the outskirts of Manbij in northeastern Syria, as they fight with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Sept. 6, 2023.

Turkey-backed Syrian factions end US-mediated ceasefire with Kurdish-led SDF

Sources told Al-Monitor that negotiations between the sides had “failed” amid “significant military buildups” on the Turkish border.

Members of the Syrian community in Berlin hold flags of Syria and Germany as they celebrate the collapse of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, Dec. 8, 2024.

Analysis

EU seeks channels with HTS as it grapples with post-Assad Syria

The European Union will need a creative solution to establish communications with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a designated terror organization and the caretaker government in Syria.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

US forces patrol oil fields near Syria's northeastern border with Turkey in the Qahtaniyah countryside in the far northeast corner of Hasakah province, on Sept. 3, 2024.

Top US general meets with Syria’s Kurdish forces after Assad falls

Washington has laid out its conditions for supporting post-Assad governance but appears reluctant to leverage its military foothold in Syria as Turkey-backed rebels continued to attack the Kurdish-led SDF, threatening the fragile cohesion among US-backed militias seen as essential to keeping a lid on the dangerous remnants of Islamic State group.

Turkey's Foreign Affairs Minister, Hakan Fidan delivers a press conferense after his meeting with his Greek counterpart in Athens, on November 8, 2024. (Photo by Aris MESSINIS / AFP) (Photo by ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images)

With Assad gone, Turkey urges Syrian opposition to unite, warns against PKK

The top Turkish diplomat struck a composed tone following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad and called for unity among the Syrian opposition.

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US strikes Iran-backed militias in Syria in latest round of retaliation

This was the first wave of retaliatory US strikes against Iran-backed militias acknowledged by CENTCOM in several months.

Afghan refugees walk with their belongings after deporting back from Iran at the Islam Qala border between Afghanistan and Iran, in the western Herat province on May 30, 2024.

Taliban minister endorses return of Afghan migrants from Iran

Afghan migrants in Iran have faced violence and hostility recently, according to reports, and the Islamic Republic has vowed to deport them by the end of the year.

Lieutenant General Lucas Schreurs of the Netherlands assumes command of the NATO Mission to Iraq (NMI) in Baghdad, May 24, 2024.

Interview

NATO deepens engagement with Iraq as US prepares to withdraw

In an exclusive Al-Monitor interview, Lucas Schreurs, commander of NATO Mission Iraq, explains the scope of his outfit's mandate.

Commander of NATO Mission Iraq

Commander of NATO Mission Iraq

Lucas Schreurs

A man points to a television set displaying an image of the late leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah.

Analysis

Even with killing of Nasrallah, Hezbollah nowhere near defeated

Removing savvy and charismatic militant chieftains is a necessary, but not sufficient, counterterrorism measure. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in October 2019, nearly five years ago, and the Islamic State, though attenuated, demonstrated a remarkable ability to adapt and evolve.

Colin P. Clarke

By Colin P. Clarke

In Pittsburgh, US, reporting on counterterrorism, militancy